South Korean workers on edge of burnout
They put in longer hours than people in many other countries, but their president wants more from them.
SEOUL — "Life Is Wonderfull" is the boast from Korea Telecom that shimmers from the billboard-size TV screens that loom over downtown Seoul, but you might get an argument at street level about the accuracy of the company's English slogan.
Many South Koreans see their lives as well short of wonderful. Workers put in the longest hours in any free-market economy. Students are pushed to study to exhaustion. And among the most advanced democracies, South Koreans remain among the stingiest when it comes to spending on leisure and fun.
The situation leaves South Koreans poised on the fringes of a collective burnout, a national state of stress and grumpiness that could complicate new President Lee Myung-bak's contention that they all should work harder to reboot a sluggish economy.
"South Koreans are not trained to enjoy cultural life and leisure," complained Yoon Chang-il, 47, a patent lawyer in Seoul who says his generation remains gripped by a fear of falling behind working peers and competitors. "Most people work late at night, both men and women, single and married, because there is a business culture of obsession and pressure. And when you go to the office on Saturdays, there are always people working."
Statistics back up Yoon. Figures released last week by the 30-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show South Korean workers averaged 2,357 hours on the job in 2006, down from the hectic pace of the early 1990s but still far ahead of any of the other members of the group of free-market democracies. By comparison, American workers clocked 1,797 hours on average in 2006, the equivalent of 70 fewer eight-hour days.
Yet all those hours at the plant or office translate into skimpy rewards. South Korea landed near the bottom of the group's list when it came to spending on cultural events, sports gear, package holidays and other leisure activities.
The numbers also show that the country remains driven by a strong belief in education, with millions of parents scrimping to pay for private schools and tutoring to give their children an edge in this intensely competitive country. South Korea spends a greater portion of national income on private education than any other country: 2.8% of gross domestic product, compared with 2.3% in the United States, according to the latest statistics.
No other country is even close.
South Korea also has the highest suicide rate in the organization's study.
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