Can South Korea Afford a 4½-Day Work Week?

Workers welcome idea, but a dual labour market and low productivity pose challenges

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SEOUL – With President Lee Jaemyung now in office, one of his most eye-catching campaign pledges – introducing a 4½-day work week – is facing questions over whether it can really work.

For many workers, the proposal is a welcome one.

"I can't even describe how much I hope this happens," said 39-year-old office worker Kim Jieun in Seoul.

"Right now, I leave work exhausted every Friday evening and have barely enough time to rest, let alone enjoy life or take care of my kids. Just half a day more would mean a real chance at balance."

Ms Kim's view is widely shared. According to a recent survey by business networking platform Remember, seven in 10 salaried workers out of more than 11,000 surveyed said they would prefer a four-day work week.

In a different survey by Saramin, 86.7 per cent of employees said they prefer a four-day work week, and of those, more than 60 per cent said they would take the shorter hours even if it meant a lower salary.

But the reality is more complicated.

South Korea is widely known for its gruelling work culture. In 2022, South Koreans worked an average of 1,901 hours annually – 149 hours more than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average.

The job market is also notoriously rigid, largely due to labour laws that make it difficult for employers to dismiss regular workers, contributing to a stark divide between secure, permanent jobs and unstable, non-regular employment.

"Shaped by decades of regulations that prioritise employment stability over labour market agility, rigid legal frameworks and cultural norms make it difficult for companies to reward excellence or address underperformance," Professor Kim Seong-hee, a labour don at Korea University, told The Korea Herald. "This makes it risky for businesses to experiment with reduced work hours."