Long Hours Cost Koreans Creativity
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
South Korea has the longest workweek among the world's industrialized economies. Such hard work has allowed the country to rise from the ashes of the Korean War to become the 13th-largest economy.
Long hours, however, give employees fewer opportunities for self-development, chip away at worker efficiency and creativity, and cost companies billions in lost productivity due to health problems, Samsung Economic Research Institute said Friday in a report.
The think tank suggested that Korean companies discourage long hours and implement a flexible work hour system, adding laws and regulations should be improved to reduce overtime.
Worker creativity is a key success factor for companies in a rapidly changing business environment, Samsung said, urging the elimination of the outdated system of long hours.
Over the past two decades, the number of work hours has steadily declined in line with improved labor rights and regulatory changes. Koreans, however, put in more hours in the office than most in the world.
According to a survey by the International Labor Organization last year, nearly half of all Korean workers had workweeks of more than 49 hours, the world's second highest and far higher than the global average of 22 percent of workers.
Despite the long workweek, however, valued-added labor productivity was only $48,000 in 2006, or just 65 percent of the G8 average of $74,000.
``Korea's long work hours are attributed to a wide array of factors. First, employees are encouraged to work more because of overtime compensation, which is 1.5 times more than regular pay. Also, the tight labor market has made companies reluctant to hire new workers and they pile on the extra work on existing staff to save money,'' researcher Lee Jeong-il said.
Lee also said the insufficient leisure and tourism infrastructure here is another reason for the long workweek. Time spent outside of work for many employees is limited to passive activities, including watching TV or movies and playing online games.
``Long hours hurt workers' health and cause problems such as cardiovascular disease, stress and body aches. Since overworking does not allow employers time for self-development and recovery from work fatigue, it has a negative impact on worker productivity and creativity,'' he said.
Lee suggested that CEOs and executives take the initiative in reducing hours because of the domestic top-down corporate culture that makes it hard for ordinary workers to do so.
``Labor laws should be overhauled in a way that compensation for reduced wages from fewer work hours should be linked with productivity enhancement. Change is also needed to enhance employment flexibility of regular workers and extend the use of non-regular staff, which will enable companies to reduce the number of working hours but increase overall employment,'' he said.
When workers take enough rest and balance work and personal life, they can concentrate and perform better and come up with creative ideas, he said.