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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 9:57 am Post subject: Koreans Work Longest Hours |
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Koreans Work Longest Hours: ILO
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| Korean employees work for the longest hours, according to a report, Monday, but their productivity per person is only about 68 percent of that of Americans, which is the world's highest. |
By Kim Rahn, Korea Times (September 3, 2007)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/09/117_9485.html |
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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Reminds me of people who do well in school without studying a great deal. |
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PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not sure how they do their stats, though. America's productivity had at one point slipped to number 4 or 5 in the world when there was overemployment in the corporate sector. After some personnel cutbacks and overseas outsourcing, productivity increased.
The fact is that Korean companies employ too many people. Depending on how productivity is measured, this can have a negative impact on the stat. |
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Whistleblower
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Overemployment and a low salary. The basic determination on supply and demand. With such a low salary is it any wonder why Koreans are less productive than their counterparts. |
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shifdog
Joined: 20 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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U.S. Workers Most Productive
American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year.
They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a U.N. report released Monday, which said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity."
The U.S. employee put in an average 1,804 hours of work in 2006, the report said. That compared with 1,407.1 hours for the Norwegian worker and 1,564.4 for the French.
It pales, however, in comparison with the annual hours worked per person in Asia, where seven economies � South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Thailand � surpassed 2,200 average hours per worker. But those countries had lower productivity rates. |
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1658490,00.html
Asians pretend to be busy at work. I've experienced this firsthand in Korea and Japan. |
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regicide
Joined: 01 Sep 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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| shifdog wrote: |
| Quote: |
U.S. Workers Most Productive
American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year.
They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a U.N. report released Monday, which said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity."
The U.S. employee put in an average 1,804 hours of work in 2006, the report said. That compared with 1,407.1 hours for the Norwegian worker and 1,564.4 for the French.
It pales, however, in comparison with the annual hours worked per person in Asia, where seven economies � South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Thailand � surpassed 2,200 average hours per worker. But those countries had lower productivity rates. |
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1658490,00.html
Asians pretend to be busy at work. I've experienced this firsthand in Korea and Japan. |
I read this article too. What is notable is the output per worker:
labor productivity."
The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries, the International Labor Organization said in its report. Ireland comes in second at $55,986, followed by Luxembourg at $55,641, Belgium at $55,235 and France at $54,609.
Last edited by regicide on Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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oldfatfarang
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: On the road to somewhere.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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When anaylsing Asian working statistics it pays to remember that drinking green tea, eating rice cakes, surfing the internet, and chatting on-line is not working - it's hanging around until the superior deems it OK for the underlings to leave.
That said, when Asians HAVE to work - they work very quickly - far quicker than any Western workers I've seen (or employed). |
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regicide
Joined: 01 Sep 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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| oldfatfarang wrote: |
When anaylsing Asian working statistics it pays to remember that drinking green tea, eating rice cakes, surfing the internet, and chatting on-line is not working - it's hanging around until the superior deems it OK for the underlings to leave.
That said, when Asians HAVE to work - they work very quickly - far quicker than any Western workers I've seen (or employed). |
"That said, when Asians HAVE to work - they work very quickly - far quicker than any Western workers I've seen (or employed"
That has been my experience too. And of course, with any complaints. |
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ED209
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Who sleeps the longest at work? |
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Atavistic
Joined: 22 May 2006
Location: How totally stupid that Korean doesn't show in this area.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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| oldfatfarang wrote: |
| When anaylsing Asian working statistics it pays to remember that drinking green tea, eating rice cakes, surfing the internet, and chatting on-line is not working - it's hanging around until the superior deems it OK for the underlings to leave. |
My boyfriend and I were just talking about this over dinner last night, before I saw this thread. The underlings sitting there with nothing to do thing is another reason he hates Confucianism.
I think Korea is the perfect example of the Peter Principle at work, combined with a bit of "Sam Sung needs to head Hyundai department store's electronic underwear division because he married Mr Kim's daughter, and Mr Kim went to school with Hyun Dai's father's eldest cousin thrice removed and..." |
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marlow
Joined: 06 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:57 pm Post subject: |
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| regicide wrote: |
"That said, when Asians HAVE to work - they work very quickly - far quicker than any Western workers I've seen (or employed"
That has been my experience too. And of course, with any complaints. |
Often the "HAVE to work" comes after the boss yells at them to get something done. I often feel Koreans can't work until the boss puts his/her foot down - then they work. Basically the ideal Korean worker is supposed to ignore their life and free time and be on-call for their boss 14 hours per day six (preferably seven) days per week.
Not for me. Tell me what to do. I'll do it as quickly and excellently as possible, and then I'll enjoy my life. Work hard, play hard. |
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contrarian
Joined: 20 Jan 2007
Location: Nearly in NK
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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| There is a difference between working hard and working smart. Most government workers do neither. |
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jeffkim1972
Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Location: Mokpo
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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Korea lacks value-added products. Everything they make is almost a commodity. Ships, Cars, memory chips, etc.
That is why the US is so "productive". They are the leaders, along with Europe in making the value-added stuff.
Also, Korea has yet to really enter into the service business. Now that is where the money is.
The Koreans work quickly when it comes to tasks that can be done quickly. But they cannot work quickly on things that require a bit more skill and experience.
Finding a guy that knows how to make a chair out of solid timber is nearly impossible in Korea. a Good chair, considered a finely crafted chair that can sell as a finely crafted chair. These things simply don't exist in Korea.
Perfect example. Have you really been to a high class Korean restaurant where the chef takes his or her time and years of experience and imagination to prepare the presentation of your meal? Probably not, because it doesn't exist in Korea. Everything is just sort of thrown in together and boiled or fried, etc. And you're still eating the meat off the bone. |
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oldfatfarang
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: On the road to somewhere.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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| contrarian wrote: |
| There is a difference between working hard and working smart. Most government workers do neither. |
Interesting and lucid observation. I recently had the experience of observing a group of K government office workers in action. They didn't appear too bright. I thought about this for a while and concluded that K govt workers are pure Confucian - they only got their job because they had high test scores (or nepotism) - not because they were intelligent or flexible thinkers. Years of kow-towing to superiors and following mindless rules certainly hadn't increased their intelligence - just got them promoted. |
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jeffkim1972
Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Location: Mokpo
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="Atavistic"]
| oldfatfarang wrote: |
| When anaylsing Asian working statistics it pays to remember that drinking green tea, eating rice cakes, surfing the internet, and chatting on-line is not working - it's hanging around until the superior deems it OK for the underlings to leave. |
| Atavistic wrote: |
My boyfriend and I were just talking about this over dinner last night, before I saw this thread.
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Thanks, that information was highly relevant to the discussion.
| Atavistic wrote: |
The underlings sitting there with nothing to do thing is another reason he hates Confucianism.
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Nothing to do with Confucianism. Maybe there is some confusion as to what Confucianism is as well as the working environment in Korea.
| Atavistic wrote: |
I think Korea is the perfect example of the Peter Principle at work, combined with a bit of "Sam Sung needs to head Hyundai department store's electronic underwear division because he married Mr Kim's daughter, and Mr Kim went to school with Hyun Dai's father's eldest cousin thrice removed and..." |
Actually, it is the opposite. Koreans are promoted based on their age, not competence. At any level, it is difficult for Koreans to learn what they are not supposed to learn. This country lacks self-learners in other words. Notice the heavy reliance on tutors and hagwons, even for the smartest student. In America, the smartest students do the tutoring and would be completely against his or her philosophy to have a tutor. Learning on one's own is a highly cherished skill. |
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