OK, So Koreans Put in the Longest Working Hours in the OECD, but

by Robert Koehler on March 17, 2010

in Korean Society

given the countries that come after them, I’m not sure that means much.

{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Wedge March 17, 2010 at 2:49 pm: It’s not the hours spent at the office, it’s the work accomplished that matters. And we all know that story.
2 hitest March 17, 2010 at 3:15 pm: Hardest working? If they were working all those hours (regardless of accomplishing anything or not) perhaps, but sitting on your ass 18 hours a day playing computer games or surfing the net is not hard working.
3 lmno March 17, 2010 at 5:20 pm: “Korea has this kind of bad culture where we always _________. But we are changing.” ™
4 3gyupsal March 17, 2010 at 5:23 pm: I’d be more interested in a study on cross country management styles. Do Korean offices use quality management systems like six sigma, that involve planning and strategy, or do they use a style of management where people just show up the office and vaguely know what they are supposed to do without clearly stated and defined goals? I don’t mean this as a slam on Koreans or anything, I am genuinely curious about that, because many of the jobs I have had in Korea have been managed by 눈치.
5 gangpehmoderniste March 17, 2010 at 7:27 pm: I’m very proud i significantly lower the average for my country
6 Abu Rashta March 17, 2010 at 7:42 pm: Why so very many hours? The culture? Law? Society pressure?
7 Maximus2008 March 17, 2010 at 8:13 pm: Robert, that’s a May 2008 article, 2 yrs old. What’s the point, if I may ask? (btw, I think that nowadays they are not ranked no. 1 anymore)
8 cm March 17, 2010 at 8:59 pm: 1. Korea Gross domestic product per capita: $24,600

2. Greece GDP per capita: $30,500

I just cannot believe that Greece is richer than Korea. There is no way that can be true. That’s hard to believe. How in the world did they do their accounting?
9 lastnamekim March 18, 2010 at 1:14 am: It’s because of statistics like this that the smartest and talented Koreans don’t want to work for Korean companies. It becomes a pissing match of who can save face by staying at the office longer than the rest. Note, I said “staying at the office” not necessarily “working at the office”.
10 DLBarch March 18, 2010 at 1:34 am: I gotta say, I consider myself pretty much second-to-none in my admiration of the diligence of most Korean workers and students. But the long hours metric is virtually meaningless, since it presumes a level of efficiency that’s not constant. I worked at a Korean law firm where ridiculously long hours were routine, but where the associates still managed to bill less than 180 hours per month. At my current firm, I regularly bill over 200 hours per month without breaking a sweat and still manage to leave the office by 8 pm every night.

It may be annecdotal, but based on my experience, I’d say that while the talent of Korean workers is quite high, their efficiency is quite average. The joke among the Korean associates at my old firm was to just to surf the Internet into the evening until the senior partners left. I even knew one guy who left his office lights on, placed a pack of cigarettes and a half empty coffee cup on his desk, and then went home for the night…knowing full well that if anyone walked by they’ed think he’d just stepped out for a moment.

These guys were actually good lawyers. But efficient? Nope.

DLB
11 thekorean March 18, 2010 at 1:41 am: I regularly bill over 200 hours per month without breaking a sweat and still manage to leave the office by 8 pm every night.

You must show up really early in the morning. I hear that’s the California lawyers — show up early, go home early.

At any rate, I am not sure if a law firm is a good measure of efficiency. I would be more interested to know about factories.
12 WangKon936 March 18, 2010 at 1:43 am: DLB,

I agree and add a corollary.

Korean businesses at this point are more geared towards meeting the prescribed “goals” or “results desired” at this point rather than efficiency. However, the problem is that sometimes “saving face” is too often the unofficial goal.
13 WangKon936 March 18, 2010 at 1:46 am: But having said that…. in much of the financial services industry here in the U.S. “face time” is a fact of life, especially for junior associates.
14 DLBarch March 18, 2010 at 2:10 am: TK – As is so often the case, you are correct — on both fronts. First, a lot of California firms are lifestyle firms…come in early, leave at a decent our to spend time with the family (or the mistress, whatever). Of course, it’s still all about the billables and the work product, but staying late is not per se better than coming in early. In Korea, it seemed to be the opposite…no credit for coming in early, but huge kudos for staying late.

Second, as a firm believer that “manufacturing matters,” the factory floor IS a more interesting metric than the law firm (or brokerage or whatever). But as Korea moves into a post-industrial, white-collar service economy, this may be less and less the case. We’ll see.

WK – I dig it when we agree. And you’re right…face time is absolutley crucial. But my boss still cares less that I come in early (or am I’m a snappy dresser) than that I have good numbers. It’s still largely about the Benjamins.

Cheers,
DLB
15 WangKon936 March 18, 2010 at 2:21 am: Ha!.. you make it sound like we seldom agree.
16 DLBarch March 18, 2010 at 2:35 am: Well, we both have a huge admiration for Korea’s achievements, and yet we both still drive German cars! Go figure!

DLB
17 WangKon936 March 18, 2010 at 2:46 am: Because the Genesis ain’t quite there yet…
18 thekorean March 18, 2010 at 3:22 am: Of course, it’s still all about the billables and the work product, but staying late is not per se better than coming in early.

Agreed. Plus, the best waves come between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. anyway. But since I have nothing of that sort to look forward to in New York, I (along with most other attorneys at my firm) saunter in much later, and go home late.
19 DLBarch March 18, 2010 at 3:28 am: Why do I get the feeling that deep down, TK wants to return to California? Maybe ’cause it’s still where the cool kids hang out!

DLB
20 slim March 18, 2010 at 3:56 am: Apologies for interrupting this lawyers in lovefest with an off-topic comment, but how in hell did Six In Seoul win the best English blog award? Nice enough folks, but that blog is the kind of stuff that only family and friends would care about.
21 WangKon936 March 18, 2010 at 4:44 am: Slim,

You ruined it. And they were just about ready to kiss too…
22 slim March 18, 2010 at 4:52 am: WK – Thank God! I stopped them just shy of talking about “waxing each other’s board”
23 hardyandtiny March 18, 2010 at 7:01 am: So Korean government employees are not paid by the hour?