(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – A new survey has found that at 64.2 percent, a significant majority of South Koreans are in favor of the government’s recent decision to place a cap on weekly work hours, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The survey, which was commissioned by the ministry and performed by Hankook Research, also found that 63 percent of respondents expected the new measure to affect society in a positive way going forward.
In addition, 65 percent of respondents said the policy “should be implemented as scheduled or earlier,” while 23.8 percent of respondents said the policy should be implemented later and 11.2 percent said they “did not know.”
The researchers also revealed that 53 percent of respondents said that the new work hour policy would have a positive effect on the Korean economy, while 48.7 percent said it would lead to an increase in jobs.
A high ratio of respondents who were both affected by the new working hours and those who remained unaffected said they would use their free time to spend time with their family.
When asked about the type of life changes brought on by shorter work days, many respondents responded positively, with 70.4 percent saying that the new measures would leave them with more time to spend on “hobbies and self-development” and 67.7 stating that the unnecessary practice of working late would become less common.
However, other respondents remained skeptical, with 80 percent worrying that their salary would decrease while 63.1 percent thought that their actual work hours would not go down.
An official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that the survey was performed to get a better understanding of public opinion on the new policy.
“We plan to conduct two more surveys within the year,” said the official. Meanwhile, the survey was performed in interview form online by questioning 1,515 adults of all genders between August 3 and 10.
H. S. Seo (hsseo@koreabizwire.com)
