60 Hours a Week? Half of Office Workers Say 48 Hours Is Appropriate

Jikganggapjil119 Survey of 1,000 Workers
8 out of 10 Say "Reduce or Maintain Current Working Hours"

A survey revealed that 8 out of 10 office workers believe the current 52-hour workweek should either be reduced or maintained as is.

On the 19th, the civic group Workplace Bullying 119 announced the results of an online survey on working hours, conducted by the public opinion research firm Embrain Public. The survey was carried out from September 4 to 11, targeting 1,000 office workers nationwide aged 19 and older.

In this survey, respondents were asked, "If the maximum allowable weekly working hours were to be newly set through a revision of working hours, what would be an appropriate limit?" The options provided were "48 hours or less," "52 hours," "56 hours," "60 hours," "64 hours," and "69 hours or more." Among the respondents, nearly half (48.3%) chose the shortest working hour option, "48 hours," as appropriate. Those who answered that the current "52 hours" was suitable accounted for 29.6%. In other words, about 8 out of 10 office workers (77.9%) expressed the opinion that "working hours should be maintained at the current level or reduced."

On the 17th, when temperatures dropped below freezing, office workers on their way to work were walking along Gwanghwamun Intersection in Jongno, Seoul, dressed in thick clothing. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

In response to these results, Workplace Bullying 119 argued that the recent survey released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which showed that the majority of workers support a 60-hour workweek, is an "optical illusion." In the Ministry’s survey, the response "the maximum allowable working hours per week should be within 60 hours" was the highest among workers at 75.3% and employers at 74.7%. However, the lowest limit option available in that survey was "within 60 hours per week." Workplace Bullying 119 stated, "As confirmed in this survey, office workers consistently choose the shortest working hour option among the choices."

The preference for reducing or maintaining the current upper limit on working hours was generally high regardless of respondents’ job types or other characteristics. Among office workers (47.6%), production workers (48.5%), and service workers (47%), the majority selected 48 hours as the appropriate maximum weekly working hour limit. Including those who preferred to "maintain the current level," this accounted for over 77% of the total.

By industry, the majority favored reducing or maintaining the upper limit across the board, including manufacturing (78.6%), education services (78.5%), health and social welfare services (78%), construction (77.2%), and accommodation and food services (70.6%).

Park Seong-woo, a labor attorney and chair of the Workplace Bullying 119 Special Committee on Overtime Abuse, stated, "A 48-hour workweek is implemented in most European Union countries and is the international standard for weekly working hour limits as set by the International Labour Organization (ILO)." He emphasized, "The top priority in reforming Korea’s working hour system should be achieving 'work-life balance.'"

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