S. Korean firms tell executives to work six days a week

Firms say measures come as a response to downturn in business, citing an 'emergency'

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SEOUL "Back in the day, my weeks were Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Friday, Friday," said Mr Lim Hyungkyu, a retired Samsung Electronics executive now in his 70s.

Mr Lim joined Samsung, South Korea's largest company, in 1976 and rose through the ranks to chief technology officer. For much of his 30-plus years at Samsung, working on the weekends was normal and legal under the nation's labour laws. "I didn't mind," Mr Lim said.

"It was fun for me." Things are different now. South Korean labour laws cap working hours to 52 a week: 40 standard hours with up to 12 for overtime.

Weekends are generally considered off-limits, and younger employees are mindful of their worklife balance in a way their parents or grandparents were not.

But over the past few months, some influential South Korean companies have told executives to work longer hours, in some cases telling them to come to the office six days a week. Some people in South Korean businesses are predicting that lower-ranked employees and managers at smaller companies will feel pressure to follow suit.

"It's a signal that in South Korea, working six days a week is still acceptable," said Mr Kim Seol, a representative of the Youth Community Union, a labour group that represents workers between the ages of 15 and 39.

The pressure on workers, especially young workers, can be intense in South Korea, which has a shrinking, ageing population with one of the world's lowest fertility rates.

Fears about job security and the rising costs of housing, childcare and education have discouraged working-age Koreans from having children, contributing to a demographic crisis that looms over the economy.