Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, recently told employees that the ‘sweet spot for productivity’ is a 60-hour work week. Not 40 hours. Not even 50. But 60 hours – a full 12-hour shift, five days a week, at minimum.
For an industry that prides itself on innovation, it’s rather staggering that Silicon Valley still insists on clinging to this archaic (and blatantly patriarchal, capitalist) view of work, where managers consistently prioritise optics over outcomes and choose control over creativity.
Brin’s views are not only scientifically wrong, but also hopelessly out of touch with the realities of the world we live in. He is perpetuating a cycle of burnout, disengagement and toxic workplace cultures.
So, instead of falling for this outdated hustle mentality, here’s what leaders – and especially HR professionals – need to do instead.
Get some perspective: What a 60-hour workweek actually looks like
Before debating whether a 60-hour workweek boosts productivity (spoiler alert: it doesn’t!), perhaps it’s a good idea to gain some perspective on what 60 hours would actually mean for people.
We are talking about a 12-hour shift, say from 08:00 to 20:00, Monday to Friday. That’s excluding time spent commuting to and from the office where these out-of-touch execs are all insisting people need to be working from. It’s also excluding the after-hours messages and emails or the time that will inevitably be spent on catching up on work that could not be completed during a day filled with pointless meetings and discussions.
People will barely have enough energy to eat dinner, shower and collapse into bed. There’s no way they would have time for family, relationships, hobbies or even basic self-care.
Industries where 12-hour shifts are the norm – like healthcare and emergency services – legally require extended recovery periods of 36 to 72 consecutive hours after 3 or 4 shifts. Why? Because when people work too much, mistakes happen. Cognitive function declines and decision-making suffers. Before long, burnout takes hold and performance plummets.
So, if we wouldn’t expect a doctor, pilot or firefighter to function at their best after five consecutive 12 hour days, why are we assuming that knowledge workers would somehow be exempt from human limits?
Don’t buy into the BS: The origins of hustle culture and the shame economy
Examine your own personal beliefs and the mantras you’ve been raised with. Perhaps you have heard things like ‘real success requires sacrifice’ or you’ve internalised the ever-popular quote ‘when you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life’.
I am sorry to tell you this, but those aren’t your beliefs. You have internalised deeply patriarchal, capitalist and colonialist systems of control that were specifically designed to keep you in a cycle of overworking and overspending.
We have been conditioned to believe that rest is indulgent, that leaving work on time is lazy and that working ‘only 40 hours a week’ is a lack of ambition.
None of this is true. And we have an opportunity as people professionals and business leaders to dismantle these narratives. It is our duty to stop enabling the damaging cycle of overwork through performance management structures and remuneration policies that reward toxic behaviours and penalise humanity and balance.
Data doesn’t lie: Productivity drops after 50 hours
Brin’s claim that 60-hour workweeks are the ‘sweet spot for productivity’ isn’t just outdated, it’s patently untrue and we have the data to back us up.
The Stanford study: More hours = Less work
Back in 2014, Stanford University published research proving that productivity plummets after 50 hours a week. At the 55 hour mark, there is no measurable increase in output whatsoever, but mistakes are more likely due to the cognitive function decline and diminished decision-making ability. The study also found that individuals who worked 70 hours a week achieved the same results as those working 55 hours per week – but with significantly more stress, errors and burnout.
Microsoft Japan: A 40% productivity boost with fewer hours
This is arguably one of the best examples of the success of a four-day workweek. Microsoft Japan measured a 40% increase in productivity across the board. Employees were working fewer hours, yet somehow, delivering significantly more.
Global four-day workweek trials: Success across countries
The UK, Iceland and Portugal have all conducted nationwide experiments testing reduced workweeks. The results are always the same: productivity levels increase, along with overall employee wellbeing and absenteeism rates going down. Here in the UK, 89% of companies that trialed a four-day workweek continued this operation a year later and 51% made the change permanent.
The data is overwhelmingly clear and irrefutable at this point: longer hours don’t mean better results, they lead to exhaustion, burnout, disengagement, absenteeism and high turnover rates. So, if we truly care about performance, retention and engagement, we should all champion working smarter, not longer hours.
Build systems that promote balance instead of glorifying burnout
Instead of rewarding people for working themselves into an early grave, we need to start creating policies and systems that encourage balance and sustainable performance. We can start driving real change, by:
- Reframing performance metrics: Stop measuring time spent AT work and instead, measure impact and outcomes.
- Setting clear work boundaries: Create policies that discourage after-hours emails and limit the number of meetings to give people time to actually execute on tasks.
- Normalise rest and recovery: Encourage real breaks at least once per quarter and ensure that senior leaders model this behaviour.
- Offer flexibility: People perform better when they have control over when, where and how they work.
Having balance between work and a life outside of work isn’t some perk or a symptom of ‘woke culture’. It’s a human necessity and it’s a strategic imperative for any business that seeks to outperform its competitors.
Humanity over hustle: The best talent won’t buy into overwork anymore
Brin’s comments feel especially tone-deaf in 2025. People are more aware than ever that their skills are valuable and that overwork doesn’t lead to success – it only leads to burnout and chronic health conditions. Workers are waking up to the fact that hustle culture is a scam and they are no longer willing to trade their health and happiness for a job that would replace them in a heartbeat.
So, instead of doubling down on that exploitative narrative, we need to rethink our strategic objectives and the values that underpin all that we do.
Real productivity isn’t measured in hours – it’s measured in impact. The 60-hour workweek isn’t a ‘sweet spot’ and we need to stop romanticising and glorifying overwork and burnout.
