Whopping 69-hour workweek was proposed by the Korean government
The South Korean government has drawn extreme backlash from the citizens for proposing a “69-hour workweek”, inevitably having to rethink the proposal. With the advent of COVID-19, mankind has moved into cyberspace in droves, with increased flexibility in working hours. Dozens of firms have even been implementing a 4-day workweek, but South Korea seems to be missing out on the memo. This month, the government called for modification in working hours, specifically to raise the maximum working time to 69 hours a week. While the current maximum work week is 52 hours, it has fueled societal debate among millennial employees and Generation Z workers regarding work-life balance.
The policy objective was to promote both the work-life balance of employees and the economic productivity of companies. The government claimed that the policy would enable people to manage their time more flexibly, allowing them to bank their time at one’s convenience. In other words, employees are able to take longer vacations or leaves - at least theoretically. However, such an idea seems counterintuitive in that it does not apply in the case of small and medium size companies, which constitutes 88% of the Korean labor market. Currently, small to medium size companies are facing shortages in workers, which brings us back to the question of “Who will do my job on my day off?” Clearly, employees would be able to “work” more, but the real question is, does it apply to one’s “well being” as well? The social atmosphere regarding long working hours in Korea has been acknowledged as one of the major contributing factors to its economic development. However, the flip side of such societal pressure is the unprecedented rate of death caused by overwork. Therefore, the working population is voicing their concern regarding work-life balance, urging the government to communicate more with its citizens.