韩国4.5天工作制,“东亚卷王”韩国将全面实行4.5天工作制？| 海峡时报

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选文来源20250618| The Straits Times

Can South Korea afford a 4.5-day work week?

SEOUL- With President Lee Jae-myung now in office, one of his most eye-catching campaign pledges – introducing a 4.5-day work week – is facing questions over whether it can really work.

For many workers, the proposal is a welcome one.

“I can’t even describe how much I hope this happens,” said 39-year-old office worker Kim Ji-eun in Seoul.

“Right now, I leave work exhausted every Friday evening and have barely enough time to rest, let alone enjoy life or take care of my kids. Just half a day more would mean a real chance at balance.”

Ms Kim’s view is widely shared. According to a recent survey by business networking platform Remember, seven in 10 salaried workers out of more than 11,000 surveyed said they would prefer a four-day work week.

In a different survey by Saramin, 86.7 per cent of employees said they prefer a four-day work week, and of those, more than 60 per cent said they would take the shorter hours even if it meant a lower salary.

But the reality is more complicated.

South Korea is widely known for its gruelling work culture. In 2022, South Koreans worked an average of 1,901 hours annually – 149 hours more than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average.

The job market is also notoriously rigid, largely due to labour laws that make it difficult for employers to dismiss regular workers, contributing to a stark divide between secure, permanent jobs and unstable, non-regular employment.

“Shaped by decades of regulations that prioritise employment stability over labour market agility, rigid legal frameworks and cultural norms make it difficult for companies to reward excellence or address underperformance,” Professor Kim Seong-hee, a labour don at Korea University, told The Korea Herald. “This makes it risky for businesses to experiment with reduced work hours.”

At the same time, the country ranks low in terms of labour productivity. According to the Korea Labour Institute, South Korea placed 33rd out of 38 OECD countries in 2023, with hourly productivity at US$44.40 (S$56.92) – just 57 per cent of the US’ output at US$77.90 and 65 per cent of Germany’s.

Employers worry that without a significant leap in productivity, a reduced work week would only add to their burden.

“Some pioneering firms might adopt a four-day or 4.5-day work week to attract talent,” said Mr Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, at a presidential forum in May. “But for many companies, this change would be a serious strain.”

Mixed signals from labour and business

South Korea’s largest labour union, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, has taken the opposite stance.

At a press conference in April ahead of the presidential election, the union pushed for the introduction of a four-day work week.

“Seventeen per cent of Korean workers still put in more than 48 hours per week – more than twice the EU average of 7.3 per cent,” the group said, citing long work hours as a pressing national issue.

Pointing to successful pilot programmes in countries like Iceland, France, Britain and the US, the union argues that advances in automation, AI and platform labour models demand an overhaul in how working time is structured.

“If work is changing, then the standard of what we consider acceptable labour hours must also evolve,” the federation stated.

If implemented, the 4.5-day week would reduce the legal work week from 40 to 36 hours. Coupled with another Lee campaign pledge to abolish the fixed-salary overtime system known as the “inclusive wage system”, business groups say they fear a compounded cost burden.

Law firm Lee & Ko warned that just as the adoption of the five-day work week in 2003 imposed added costs without wage cuts, the proposed shift – especially with inclusive wage reform – could significantly impact corporate operating costs.

Still, labour law experts say shorter work hours may be inevitable.

“A reduction in working hours aligns with global trends, and no major political party in Korea is actively opposing the idea,” the firm noted in its report after the election.

The firm expects phased implementation alongside flexible work arrangements.

Addressing structural gaps

The road ahead is not without conditions. Law firm Yulchon emphasised in a recent report that labour productivity must improve first.

With South Korea’s low hourly labour productivity, the firm argued that “reducing working hours without lowering wages is only socially sustainable if accompanied by productivity growth”.

A law firm’s labour expert advised that companies prepare for the change by adopting practical measures, such as encouraging the use of annual leave, offering more flexible working hours, and updating legal frameworks to maximise the use of flexible work arrangements.

“From redesigning work environments and staffing plans to ensuring fair compensation levels, the private sector must begin preparing for structural transformation,” the expert said.

However, labour experts warn that without careful planning, a reduced work week could exacerbate inequality in South Korea’s dual labour market – one dominated by secure jobs in big corporations and the public sector, and the other filled with low-paid, unstable work in small businesses and services.

The service sector’s low productivity adds to the challenge. According to the Korea Productivity Centre, the value-added productivity per service worker is only 64 per cent of the OECD average, while manufacturing productivity exceeds the OECD average – illustrating South Korea’s dichotomy of “developed manufacturing, underdeveloped services”.

This imbalance means shorter work weeks could result in reduced income and job insecurity for the vast majority of workers in the service sector if reforms do not also address deeper structural issues.

Experts agree that any meaningful attempt to adopt a 4.5-day work week must go hand in hand with comprehensive labour reform – one that considers the realities of small businesses, non-regular workers and platform-based labour.

“In today’s changing work environment, the old formula of ‘more hours equal more productivity’ doesn’t hold up, especially in manufacturing,” said Professor Kwon Hyuk, who teaches labour at Korea University.

“What matters now is when and how effectively the work is done.”

Prof Kwon warned that implementing a shorter work week only at large firms or government offices could deepen inequality.

“We need to strengthen the competitiveness of small businesses and fix the labour market’s dual structure before we move forward with such a policy,” he said.■

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