South Korea’s Work-Life Imbalance

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According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development’s (OECD) report on the average annual hours actually worked per worker (OECD. Stat, 2019), Korea ranked second from the top with an average of 2,108 hours a year since 2008. This means Korean work 1.3 times more than the OECD average working hours (1,770), and 1.5 times the Germany’s working hours (1,404). Do Koreans know that the number of hours they work is a significant problem? To answer this question, according to an online survey of 200 Korean managers, currently in a direct level position or higher, working in Korean company or multinational company in Korea (DHR International, 2014), 33% of respondents reported that they work more than 11 hours a day on average. However, only 40% of respondents think that they are working too many hours. In other words, many people do not believe that they work too much.

I strongly believe that the number of hours Korean work is a significant problem. First, it can cause a low fertility rate. Actually, according to World’s lowest fertility rates (OECD, 2014), South Korea’s fertility rate was 1.2 births per woman in 2014, the lowest in the OECD, whose members averaged 1.7. Many women and men have less time to have children because they are in the office long hours. “Women put in slightly fewer hours than men at the workplace, but if you add housework, they work far more hours than men. They have no time to have children”, – Dainn Wie, an associate professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, said (KIM, 2016). Second, it also can cause a health problem. Excessive work is linked to stress, and many Koreans try to release stress with frequent smoking and drinking. Therefore, stress and these behaviors can naturally impact on health. In addition, South Korea had the highest suicide rate in the OECD in 2013. It was 28.7 people per 100,000 people. Although there is no direct correlation has been proved between longer work hours and higher suicide rates, an overtime work can affect decision of suicide. Then, why are South Koreans working so much longer than workers in many different countries?

Industrial systems in Korea, an office culture and a wage structure are three main causes of the problem. Industrial systems in Korea are the first main cause of long working hours. South Korea has developed from one of the poorest countries to a developed country in just a few years. Because a manufacturing has led to Korea’s rapid economic development. Due to highly skilled workforce, world-class infrastructure, advanced research and development, and strategic location for Asia and the Pacific, Korea has been able to get high-end manufacturing. Main industries of manufacturing are mobile phones (Samsung), consumer electronics (especially semiconductors), household whitegoods, cars (Hyundai and Kia), ships and steel (Asialink Business). Most large Korean companies are based on the manufacturing industry, so the extension of work is naturally related to a productivity. In other words, the characteristic of manufacturing is that the more employees work, the higher the company take the productivity and a profit. Also, the biggest part of currently Korea’s industry is the service industry. For example, there are many kinds of cafe, transportations, pubs, restaurants, shopping malls and fast-food restaurants in Korea. Most of them open until late night or 24 hours. Therefore, these kinds of service industry enforce workers to work more. To sum up, the manufacturing and the service industry in Korea encourage employees to work for long time.

The office culture in Korea is the next main cause of overwork. Many Koreans say that the office culture is the biggest reason contributing to working for a long time. Then, what are factors in Korea’s office culture? First, the hierarchy is respected. Traditionally, Korean society’s values are based on Confucianism, which is opposite to Christian values. So, many older people want younger people to show respect for them (Frenette, 2018). Because of this construct, workers cannot leave the office before their managers who are older than them leave. The next factor of the office culture is personal relationships in the workplace. Building trust with managers or other employees is encouraged in Korea. Because it can be linked to get promoted to upper position. Personal ability is also important, but networking is more crucial to get promoted from the manager in Korea’s competent society. That’s why workers work hard to be seen well to their managers.

The last but not the least main cause of long working hours is the wage structure. The structure of the wage system in Korea companies is totally different with Western companies. The Western companies usually provide varying salary to workers depend on different experience and industries. In Korea, on the other hand, most companies pay fundamentally based on a position in the companies. For example, although there is a clear difference in an importance of roles, a new HR graduate recruit at a company is paid as same as a new graduate engineer at the same company. In addition, the workers’ salary in Korea is much less than Australian, British and American company even though the company is the major company. According to an average of salary in market in 2016, a new worker’s salary is only $23,000 annually until 3 years. Even companies such as Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG are paying $31,000 annually for a new worker (Kocken, 2015). Although a market price is obviously cheaper than the countries which have higher salaries, it is not enough to live normally in Korea. This makes the workers work for a long time to live hardly.

Workplaces which workers are throwing away their health can make a ‘lose-lose’ situation. In other words, too much work makes workers’ productivity decrease. South Korea has cut its work limit from 68 hours a week to 52 hours in 2018. “Enforcement will be interesting”, – Ellen Kossek, a professor of management at the Purdue University Krannert School of Management, said of South Korea. “I think it’s a good move in the right direction” (Moulite, 2018).

The reduction of working hours would seem to be a good move now, but more important thing is that a significant change in Korea’s corporate culture is required right away.

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