Bombay Shaving Company CEO says freshers should work 18 hours a day in LinkedIn post, gets trolled

Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande shared a post on LinkedIn which is receiving a lot of criticism online. He suggested freshers should work 18 hours a day and this advice has not gone down well with several netizens.

Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande shared a post on LinkedIn where he advised freshers to work for 18 hours a day for at least the initial 4-5 years. Deshpande’s advice to freshers has not gone down too well with netizens. His suggestion to not give importance to work-life balance left the internet fuming.

“When you are 22 and new in your job, throw yourself into it. Eat well and stay fit, but put in 18-hour days for at least 4-5 years. I see a LOT of youngsters who watch random content all over and convince themselves that 'work-life balance, spending time with family, rejuvenation blah blah is important. It is, but not that early. That early, worship your work. Whatever it is. The flex you build in the first 5 years of your career carries you for the rest of it. Don't do random rona-dhona. Take it on the chin and be relentless. You will be way better for it,” Deshpande wrote on LinkedIn.

The company CEO was slammed online for suggesting freshers to slog for hours and not care about work-life balance. Several users criticised his suggestions and cited reasons why no one should follow his advice.

“I still remember the days when I used to start from home at 8 AM and regularly come around 10 PM in the night. Because I had no option but to worship work and build some stability in my life. I even used to come at 2 am in the next day also. All in all, that life was trash from both personal and professional fronts. I was exploited like anything. Please don’t go for such advice. Let the CEO and his children follow these principles. I am not saying just look for work-life balance but seek a healthy life balance. Else hospital would take care of you after that 5 years of work,” a LinkedIn user commented on his post.

“I did that sometimes stretching for 20 hrs too. End result, verbal appreciation and best employee while losing out on opportunities outside of the industry. Today, many of my less working colleagues are enjoying a blissful life while I m still toiling hard,” another user wrote.

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After being at the receiver end of severe criticism for his “toxic” post, Deshpande added a little clarification at the end. “Edit - Yikes. So much hate for 18 hour days. It’s a proxy for 'giving your all and then some'. Edit 2 - for those wondering about culture at bsc, feel free to come any time or talk to any of our people,” he added.