It used to be said that the workaholic Japanese were the only people that could make Koreans look lazy, but times seem to have changed. Amid a rising trade deficit and cries that Koreans are becoming too idle, more and more Korean firms
are adopting a five-day workweek. The trend began around 1994 and continues to
strengthen.
By the end of 1996, dozens of large Korean corporations had either eliminated Saturdays entirely from the work schedule or were running 5-day work schedules twice a month. The trend was due to the main factors: 1) employees’ desire for more leisure time to enjoy their newfound wealth, and 2.) companies’ attempts to lower labor costs. In the other words, employees ‘added time off didn’t mean that they were working less but earning the same amount of money. On the contrary, in most cases salaries fell as working hours were reduced. It isn’t hard to understand why Korean workers are so eager to have more time of from their jobs. During the developing years of the 70’s and 80’s, Korean office workers, just like the Japanese, put in long hours, starting work at 8 in the morning and arriving at home at 9, 10, or later at night. Many Koreans still do. But in the 90’s the country is richer and salaries have risen, so Koreans are no longer content to spend 90% of their lives behind an office desk or in a work uniform.
In surveys taken of Koreans’ attitude toward work in 1996, a vast majority of Koreans said they would rather earn more money through longer work hours. This was a major change in attitude from just 10 years earlier.Despite criticism that Koreans are becoming lazy, Koreans still work more hours per week than the average workers in western countries. According to statistics published in 1996 by the canter statistics bureau in Sweden, people in Great Britain worked more hours per week than the average workers in western country, about 43 ½ hours. The same survey found that at least half of all Europeans worked 39 hours a week or less. The traditional American workweek is 8 hours a day for 5 days or 40 hours per week.
Compared to workers in those countries, Koreans can hardly be called lazy.
Since most Koreans work from 8 to 6 not 9 to 5 as Americans do, even on a 5-day
work schedule, Koreans work 45 hours a week.
