<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/15/south-korea-u-turns-on-69-hour-working-week-after-youth-backlash>
"South Korea’s government has been forced to rethink a planned rise in working
hours after a backlash from younger people who said the move would destroy
their work-life balance and put their health at risk.
The government had intended to raise the maximum weekly working time to 69
hours after business groups complained that the current cap of 52 hours was
making it difficult to meet deadlines.
But protests from the country’s millennials and generation z prompted the
president, Yoon Suk-yeol, to order government agencies to reconsider the
measure and “communicate better with the public, especially with generation z
and millennials”, his press secretary, Kim Eun-hye, said.
“The core of [Yoon’s] labour market policy is to protect the rights and
interests of underprivileged workers, such as the MZ generation, workers not in
a union and those working in small and medium-sized businesses,” Kim said,
according to the Korea Herald.
Yoon, a conservative who is seen as pro-business, had supported the raise to
give employers greater flexibility. Union leaders, however, had said it would
force people to work longer hours, in a country already known for its punishing
workplace culture.
The plan has also been criticised as out of step with other major economies,
including Britain, where dozens of companies last year trialled a four-day week
that campaigners said resulted in similar or better productivity and increased
staff wellbeing.
South Koreans worked an average of 1,915 hours in 2021 – that’s 199 hours more
than the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development average,
according to the most recent OECD employment outlook, and 566 hours more than
workers in Germany."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
