Founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, Shantanu Deshpande, has shared a post about the Indian work culture on LinkedIn. In the post he shared that people do not work because it’s their passion or choice but because it is a necessity for them. They work to support their families and for financial security.
Who is Shantanu Deshpande?
Shantanu Deshpande is the founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company. He is the Advisor in Advent International. Previously, he has worked as an External Advisor in McKinsey & Company. He had earned a B. Tech degree from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur and an M. Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.
Shantanu Deshpande’s post:
Shantanu Deshpande's post reads, “One of the tragic and late realizations I've had is - most people don't like their jobs. If everyone in India was given sustenance money and financial security their current jobs give them, 99% won’t show up to work the next day.”
He noted that every employee works for the same reason and wrote, “From blue collar workforce to govt employees to gig workers to factories to insurance salesmen to banks to small business owners to even 'fun and employee friendly startups' like BSC - the story is the same. And that's the reality.
He shared that most starting points for people are zero and work is a necessity as these employees have the responsibility to provide for spouse, children, elderly parents, dependent siblings, etc.
He then talked about the work culture and wrote, “To usurp someone away from their homes and families all day from morning to night, sometimes for days and weeks, with a hanging carrot of a pay check - we just assume it's alright to do that cos that's what's been happening for 250+ years. That's how nations have been built. So, we do it.”
Following this, Shantanu Deshpande highlighted the inequality in India’s economic structure. He wrote, “But increasingly I've found myself questioning the inequity of this. 2000 families in India own 18% of our national wealth. That's just INSANE. Not sure of the numbers but they definitely do not pay even 1.8% of the taxes.”
He talked about the work hard narrative and stated, “These families and other 'equity builders' like me are guilty of peddling a 'work hard and climb up' narrative because it's self-serving of course, but also what other option is there? We don't know any other way. One counter stat is 75% of billionaires are self-made. But the denominator is oh so small.”
He concluded his post and wrote, “India is a country of a billion people. How many can even try? Anyway - this is a reflective post with no head or tail or so-what. Life is very hard for most people. Very few will change that. Most people carry invisible burdens on tired shoulders and smile their way through inevitability. If you are privileged, be kind and generous and push as many people up as you can.”