Millennials, Gen-Z force South Korea govt against imposing 69-hour work week

South Koreangovernment rolled back an upcoming policy initiative which entailed arise in the working hours. The roll back cameafter a backlash from the young South Koreans who said the move would destroy their work-life balance and put their health at risk.

The government had intended to raise the maximum weekly working time to 69 hours after business groups complained that the current cap of 52 hours was making it difficult to meet deadlines.

However, asprotests from the country’s millennials and Gen-Z, both on and off the social mediaprompted the president, Yoon Suk-yeol, to order his administration to reconsider the measure and "communicate better with the public, especially with generation z and millennials,"his press secretary, Kim Eun-hye, said.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

ALSO WATCH |Work-Life Balance | At this IT Firm, the computer tells you to 'Go Home'

"The core of [Yoon’s] labour market policy is to protect the rights and interests of underprivileged workers, such as the MZ generation, workers not in a union and those working in small and medium-sized businesses," Kim said, according to the Korea Herald.

Earlier, President Yoon had expressed his support to raise the work hours to give employers greater flexibility. Union leaders, however, had said it would force people to work longer hours, in a country where workplaces are known to push tough work-life balance.

According to a recent employment outlook of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development average (OECD), South Koreans worked an average of 1,915 hours in 2021, 199 hours more than the group's average.

As per the policy decisionannounced earlier this month,a legislation introduced in 2018 by the liberal Democratic party that limits the working week to 52 hours: 40 of regular work plus 12 of overtime, was supposed to be overturned. But the bill is less likely to proceed for the immediate future.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.