Microsoft’s Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world and it is hardly surprising to hear about his early life and how he was a workaholic. Gates is invited to speak to college pass outs all the time, and it is quite obvious that people would like to pick his brains and ask him about how he managed to build a big company and sustain himself for decades.
The Microsoft co-founder clearly has his good and bad moments, which includes some regrets that he could have surely realised much earlier. Gates has talked about not taking vacations and giving priority to his work over family and friends in this post. He refers to the youth days when he had this ‘all the time working’ attitude, which he gradually realised as he got older, and that’s when you feel the need to be with family and focus on them
Microsoft is going to be a big player in the AI arena, and Gates feels that AI could one day make it possible for people to work just three days in a week that allows them to manage their work life and personal life a lot better. The fact that humans won’t have to work hard could be a boon and bane at the same time. After all, AI can pose a threat to millions of jobs, and that’s the last thing people want at a time when the profile and demands of a job are changing.
Having said that, it is interesting to hear someone like Gates talk about work-life balance, when another tech giant like Narayana Murthy has advocated for a 70-hour work week for Indians if the country has to become a developed nation. The Infosys founder also pointed out that India has one of the lowest working hours in the world, which isn’t true, as the country’s people tend to work more hours than those working in countries like the US.
But when you have a tech legend like Gates vouch for improved focus on life out of office, people listen and they should.
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