"Japan's Flexible Work System More Active Than Korea's... Work When Working, Rest When Resting"

Martial Arts, Tokyo Meeting with Korean Youth Employed at Japanese Companies
"Japan Flexibly Allows 60 Hours of Overtime Work per Month"

Korean young professionals working at Japanese IT companies reported that Japan applies the flexible working hours system more flexibly compared to Korea. Unlike Korea, Japan does not legally enforce a weekly working hour limit of 'basic 40 + extended 12 hours.'

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) announced on the 10th that on the 9th, it held a meeting in Tokyo with seven Korean youths employed at Rakuten, IBM Japan, LINE, and other companies. They discussed working conditions and organizational culture in Japanese companies.

The youths cited a spirit of challenge and the desire to work abroad as reasons for seeking employment in Japan. They also considered domestic job shortages and employment difficulties.

Notably, they unanimously stated that the flexible working hours system is more widespread in Japan than in Korea. There is a culture of working intensively when busy and resting when less busy.

They said, "Unlike Korea, which legally enforces a weekly working hour limit of 40 basic hours plus 12 extended hours, Japan does not impose a mandatory weekly working hour limit," adding, "Overtime work up to 60 hours per month is flexibly permitted."

Jung Manki, Executive Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association. [Photo by Yonhap News]

They pointed out that deep-rooted bureaucracy is a limitation of Japanese companies.

They said, "The biggest problem is that important decisions are executed centered on leaders without communication between employees and leaders," and "The lack of innovation despite changing environments is also an issue."

Jung Manki, Vice Chairman of KITA, stated, "We need to take Japan's case as a lesson and encourage smooth communication within organizations while respecting new ideas."

KITA established the Trade Academy SC IT Master course in 2001. Over 22 years, it has produced 2,852 graduates. Of these, 96.7% (2,757 people) found employment at overseas companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.