South Korea Has a Pressure-Driven and Stressful Work Environment
Employees in South Korea are among those who work the longest hours - an annual average of 2,057 hours per person in 2014 - compared to other countries under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The country ranks third to Mexico and Costa Rico with an average of 2228 and 2216 hours respectively.
Despite the long period spent in workplaces, the nation's productivity rate is relatively low. The biggest reason is spending late nights in the office without actually doing anything at all. They just sit and wait for their bosses or team leaders to clock out first. The underlying cause then is the need to impress and please higher-ups, even if it means compromising their health due to stress and lack of rest.
The inability to say no to their superiors might be common among many South Koreans. However, there's nothing they could do about it except to air their concerns online, especially on employment forums like Jobplanet.
According to Daniel Hwang, the website's Co-CEO, a lot of employees vent on the platform what they can't say personally. "They don't actually stand up to their bosses. The culture is too polite to do that", he said.
The pressure-cooker work environment - extremely demanding and stressful - is mainly due to hierarchical perception, especially among men. They develop this while serving in the military, wherein they report to superiors, and then practice it in the workplace. They feel or think that saying no is a sign of disrespect. So they join if the team leader invites them for a drink or extends their shift if the boss doesn't go home yet. They don't use up too many leaves or it might seem like they don't care about their job or their higher-up.
If this goes on for long, the country's productivity rate and workplace health might not improve at all. Fortunately, the government has been discussing strategies and planning laws they could implement to lessen the number of hours worked in a week. This way, they can help people in the corporate world lead better lives.
