Shorter workweeks to improve employee mental health and productivity may be catching on in some parts of the world, but at least one country appears to have missed the memo.
South Korea’s government was forced this week to rethink a plan that would have raised the limit on working hours to 69 per week, up from the current limit of 52, after provoking a backlash among Gen Z workers and millennials.
Workers in the East Asian economy already face some of the longest hours in the world – ranking fourth behind only Mexico, Costa Rica and Chile in 2021, according to the OECD – and death from overwork is believed to (“gwarosa”) reaches dozens of people every year.
However, the government had supported the plan to raise the cap after pressure from business groups seeking an increase in productivity – until, that is, it encountered vociferous opposition from the younger generation and trade unions.
Senior Secretary to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday the government would take a new “direction” after listening to public opinion and said it was committed to protecting the rights and interests of millennial workers, generation Z and non-union.
Raising the cap was seen as a way to deal with the looming labor shortage facing the country due to a falling fertility rate, the lowest in the world, and an aging population.
But the measure was widely criticized by those who argued that tightening the screw for workers would only make things worse; pundits often cite the country’s demanding work culture and growing disillusionment among younger generations as driving its demographic problems.
It was only in 2018 that, by popular demand, the country lowered the limit from 68 hours a week to the current 52 – a measure that at the time received overwhelming support in the National Assembly.
Current law caps the workweek at 40 hours plus up to 12 hours of paid overtime — though in reality, critics say, many workers feel pressured to work longer hours.
“The proposal makes no sense … and is very far from what workers really want,” said Jung Junsik, 25, a university student in the capital Seoul, who added that even with the government turnaround, many workers would still be pressured to work. beyond the legal maximum.
“My own father works too hard every week and there is no boundary between work and life,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this is quite common in the job market. Labor inspectors cannot monitor all workplaces 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The South Korean people will remain vulnerable to deadly overtime.”
According to the OECD, South Koreans worked an average of 1,915 hours in 2021, far above the OECD average of 1,716 and the US average of 1,767.
Long working hours – along with high levels of education and an increase in the number of women entering the workforce – were once widely credited with fueling the country’s remarkable economic growth after the Korean War in the 1950s, when it went from a poor economy to one of the richest in the world.
However, critics say the flip side of these long hours can be clearly seen in cases of “gwarosa” where exhausted people pay with their lives through heart attacks, industrial accidents or sleep-deprived driving.
Haein Shim, spokesperson for the Seoul-based feminist group Haeil, said the country’s rapid growth and economic success had come at a cost, and the proposal to extend working hours reflected the “government’s reluctance to acknowledge the realities of South Korean society”.
She said “the isolation and lack of community that comes with long hours and intense workdays” was already taking its toll on many workers and “insane working hours will further exacerbate the challenges faced by Korean women”.
In addition to gwarosa cases, the country also has the highest suicide rate among developed nations, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, she said.
“It is crucial that government (and business) address pressing issues that are already affecting lives,” said Shim. “The need for support and a healthy work-life balance cannot be overlooked if we are to ensure the well-being of individuals with the highest suicide rate in the OECD.”
In 2017, a year before the government lowered the workday limit, hundreds of people died from overwork, according to government data.
Even when the limit was reduced to 52 hours, cases of “gwarosa” continued to make headlines. In 2020, unions said 14 couriers died from overwork, having sacrificed their mental health and well-being to keep the country running during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With previous reporting by CNN’s Jake Kwon and Alexandra Field
Source: CNN Brasil
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