Comments on: Comparing Hours at Work In Select Countries

By: The New Dream Blog

The New Dream Blog — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:23:32 +0000

[...] already work hundreds of hours a year more than their counterparts in other developed countries, including workaholic Japan. They also have fewer days off than [...]

By: Reebok Assvertising Full of Hot Air: Korean Reactions « The Grand Narrative

Reebok Assvertising Full of Hot Air: Korean Reactions « The Grand Narrative — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:35:28 +0000

[...] they’re hardworking. While they don’t work quite as many hours as foreign observers tend to think, nobody can deny that they’re always prepared to roll their sleeves up when the boss demands [...]

By: Next Korea.com » Korean Movie Review #2: A Good Lawyer’s Wife (2003)

Next Korea.com » Korean Movie Review #2: A Good Lawyer’s Wife (2003) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:57:30 +0000

[...] sexuality and nonconformist heroes in his movies. And in particular, bear in mind that with: the longest working hours in the world (albeit many of which are not actually spent working); the lowest women’s workforce [...]

By: Korean Movie Review #2: A Good Lawyer’s Wife (2003) « The Grand Narrative

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:57:50 +0000

By: Div

Div — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:07:15 +0000

Is it strange that I take issue with the title of the chart – “Working Around the World” – when the only world that is displayed is mainly based around Euro-North American experience (with few exceptions)? Is it just me?

By: satine

satine — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:04:33 +0000

The above graphic lacks vital information, as others have already pointed out.

http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/studies/tn0903039s/tn0903039s.htm

This study lists average working hours in the European Union.

“Actual weekly working hours” (full time, including extra hours – paid or unpaid):

Germany 41.2
Netherlands 39.9
Norway 39.6
Belgium 38.6
France 38.4
Ireland 38.9
Denmark 39.2
Spain 40.4
Sweden 39.6
Austria 41.6
Switzerland –
U.K. 40.9

By: Duran

Duran — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:47:48 +0000

@eloriane, I believe that vacations are included, and the “hours per week” is an average based on a calculation of hours per year. So if you are at the office 40 hours per week, but take 2 weeks of vacation, the chart would mark you as working 38.5 hours/week.

I think.

Of course, we can’t tell for sure, because lisa doesn’t get statistics, so didn’t see fit to publish the methodology.

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:12:04 +0000

This graphic is useless without knowing what definition was used for ‘worker’. Are full and part time workers included in the average?

By: Crys T

Crys T — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:06:45 +0000

I don’t really understand what this chart is supposed to prove. Sure, it may look great to only have to work 30 hours a week, but if you’re not getting paid a full-time wage to do it and you need the money, it really, really isn’t. I’m only familiar with Spain and the UK and in both places, under the guise of “flexible working,” employers now offer what’s generally known as “crap contracts” with low hours and correspondingly low pay. And my personal favourite: the fixed-term contract, so yeah, you work….for a few months.

It’s similar to what happens in the US when an employer has you work 38 hours, and can therefore class you as “part time” and not have to give you full-time benefits.

By: eloriane

eloriane — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:46:36 +0000

I find it interesting, given the stereotypes in the U.S. of Mexican immigrants as being lazy, that the people of Mexico spend more time at work! Of course, it may, as in Korea, be an inaccurate account of actual work– or it may be that the stereotypes are all wrong.

With our workaholic culture, I expected the U.S. to be higher, actually– over 40 hours a week. After all, full-time is 40 hours, and many people work overtime, at least in my circles.

By: Titanis walleri

Titanis walleri — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:42:05 +0000

I figured Japan would be much higher…

By: James Turnbull

James Turnbull — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:19:19 +0000

Naturally enough, South Korea usually gets a great deal of attention in the international media when they cover comparisons of working hours such as these, but unfortunately it’s extremely rare for people who actually live and work in the country to have any input whatsoever into reports and magazine articles and so on, which only serves to perpetuate stereotypes of Koreans (and Northeast Asians in general) as extremely diligent and hardworking. Of course they certainly can be, but it is very important to place that figure of 44 hours into the context of Korean working culture also.

There’s a great deal I could say about it, but in a nutshell the figure of 44 hours, reasonably enough, derives from the time employees leave until the time they go home (and actually 44 hours sounds rather low to me!). What is never stated though, is that it is standard practice to arrive before the boss does, and not to leave before (usually) he goes home, regardless of how little work one actually has to do. This results in employees often spending several hours in the afternoons effectively doing nothing but chatting online or even sleeping, only to pick up the pace again towards the time the boss leaves.

Needless to say, despite their reputation for hard work this means that on international comparisons of productivity per hour worked South Korea usually comes about average, and of the myriad social effects one I personally blog about a great deal is that on Korea’s low birth rate, as even if there were a sufficient number of childcare facilities available in Korea few would ever open at the late hours such a workplace culture requires.

Apologies in advance for the typos in this comment: it’s 1:17am here in Busan!

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:13:46 +0000

Does this map take into account people who have multiple jobs?