Korean Job Discussion Forums

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[BoholDiver]

If these stats include owners of small businesses and the such, it is even more misleading.

A lot of these small supermarkets, clothing stores, real estate offices, and hair shops stay open for long hours but I rarely see them doing anything other than sitting in front of a computer or yacking away with their ajumma friends.

If some hairdresser keeps the shop open for 12 hours a day and gets a total of 4 hours worth of work that day, I don't count that as 12 hours of 'hard' work.

I used the example of hair shops because my neighbourhood is absolutely flooded with them and I rarely see any customers in them.

[ThingsComeAround]

SteelRails and UrbanMyth,

It is not surprising that you guys are defending your adopted countries, however we aren't saying anything about 6-year old stats or the fact that it is safe for [men] to walk around after midnight- it is just the opinion that some of us have that Koreans tend to stay at work longer and get less done.

There is no problem with a salary man that works to get his kids through school, but should that be extended to the office newbie that has other plans made? That could be viewed as unfair.

Should that father stay at work chatting up a storm and then go out with his associates to drink himself silly all in the name of work to end up alienating himself from his children & wife? That could be viewed as selfish

Korean companies aren't prepared to change their ways, and most Koreans in other countries enjoy the freedoms/liberties given to them by their new home. Could be why when so many move abroad few find their way back willingly

[Steelrails]

ThingsComeAround

I don't think I endorsed the view, rather I said that it is not a 'negatives only' stat, unlike several posters who seemed to use it as 'yet another example of what Korea does wrong'. I used the phrase 'pluses and minuses' and that there were some benefits to working longer hours while acknowedging the negatives.

The point of the post was to show what the perceived benefits of working longer are and that not only are they perceived but there are some actual benefits as well.

[eamo]

Do a lot of Koreans work longer hours because they have a stronger work ethic or because they see it as preferable to what they would otherwise have to do if they went home? Or just because that's what expected of them in Korean work culture and they don't want to rock the boat by getting up and going home at a reasonable hour?

I don't accept that staying in the office longer than they do in other countries necessarily means you have a stronger work ethic.

[Junior]

[Globutron]

I'm surprised Germany isn't up the top somewhere. They may not work that long, but their efficiency certainly gives that illusion. How they are in the position in the global economy today is beyond me.

[Steelrails]

[edwardcatflap]

Don't want to be a grammar nazi but when it's part of the title, it looks bad.

Use the 'number' of hours and avoid 'amount' with countable nouns.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Globutron]

It was amusing to walk home with this thread in mind, seeing that almost every shop I passed was of people 'working', watching TV. When I went through the market, it was groups of women in a circle chatting away.

I remember wanting to buy some recyclable bags from there a while ago, and the woman made it deliberately obvious that she was exasperated about the fact that she had to get up and serve someone.

Amusing, is all. I much prefer... MUCH prefer this to thai people, grabbing my by the arm and trying to drag me to their store before I open up a 2 minute rant about their irritating assumptions.

[redaxe]

Someone needs to explain to Korea the principle of diminishing returns.

Also, as others have pointed out, most people in Korea don't seem to be actually working most of the time that they are at work. I worked at a Korean corporation and it was basically a PC bang with a dress code.

Lots of long smoke and coffee breaks, too.

[BoholDiver]

I would venture to say alcohol is a great cause of inefficiency in Korea.

In the west, a few people have drinking problems and call in sick. Here, so many people overdrink at night and come into work regardless, being inefficient all day.

[northway]