South Korean employees work excessive hours

  • 11 years ago
South Koreans work 400 hours more a year than the average among the OECD group of advanced economies - according to one recent survey, 40 percent of annual leave goes unused. The man who carried out that survey says it's a product of the country's rapid 20th century industrialisation, built by a work force willing to put in long hours for low pay. Employers now take that mindset for granted. For all that hard work, productivity remains stubbornly low; a 2011 government survey ranked South Korea 28th out of 30 countries in terms of output per hour worked. Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett reports from Seoul.

Recommended