Displaying items by tag: Work Ethos

South Korea has some of the longest working hours in the world. Government employees work approximately 2,739 hours a year, 1,000 hours more than workers in other developed countries. The Seoul metropolitan government is introducing an initiative forcing employees to leave work earlier. Computers will be powered down at 20:00 on Fridays to stop a ‘culture of working overtime’. The shutdown comes in three phases, beginning on 30 March with computers switched off by 20:00. In April employees computers will be turned off by 19:30 on the second and fourth Friday, then from May onwards all computers will power down by 19:00 every Friday. 67.1% of government workers have asked to be exempt from the forced lights-out. Numerous surveys across the nation have found that stress and long hours of modern office jobs destroy not only health but family life.