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South Korean workers average 2,739 hours per year, with 55.9 hours per week, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government shuts down computers at 7pm on Fridays to encourage employees to take a break. A law has reduced the maximum weekly working hours from 68 to 52. Japan also has an overwork problem.
Working long hours is very common in South Korea. According to a 2018 study, government employees log an average of 2,739 hours a year, so if you subtract three weeks of mandatory annual leave, South Korean workers are on duty for 55.9 hours a week. In the capital Seoul, officials are trying to change what has been described as a “culture of overtime”. As of May 2018, the Seoul Metropolitan Government shuts down its computers at 7pm on Fridays to encourage employees to go home and take a break, assuming they don’t bring work home.
Pull the plug in case of overwork:
In South Korea, people typically work 1,000 hours more than the average annual working hours in other developed nations, a survey found earlier this year.
The country’s national assembly even passed a law in 2018 to reduce the maximum number of hours per week an employee (including those working for private companies) could work. The 68-hour limit has been reduced to 52 hours.
Japan also has a problem with overwork. In 2017, after a suicide was linked to overwork, the government gave employees the option to leave work early one day a month. Only 11% participated.
