Wednesday marks one month since the South Korean government introduced a 52-hour working week system.
Under the change, both private and public companies with 3-hundred or more employees are required to reduce maximum working hours to 52 hours per week from the previous 68.
Our Ko Roon-hee sheds light on how this has changed the work environment in Korea.
Here at a cable manufacturing company in Anyang, south of Seoul, employees get ready to leave work every day at 5:20 p.m.
Computers are programmed to alert workers on how much time is left until the PCs shut down.
The 52-hour working week system has changed how employees like Lee Seoung-o spend their evenings.
"Now that I have more time, I looked for new activities I can do after work.
Recently, I have become interested in table tennis."
For people who work at big firms implementing the 52-hour maximum workweek system, the biggest change over the past month is a better work-life balance.
Many look for ways to enjoy their hobbies after work…and some businesses say they've already seen in increase in customers coming in the evening.
"I've seen more office workers coming in after work since July... after the 52-hour working system was implemented. I think it's because they can leave work earlier. I've seen four to five new people coming in to play each week."
To help companies smoothly adjust to the change... the Ministry of Labor monitored more than 3,600 businesses that have been implementing the 52-hour working week system since July 1st.
The ministry said last week that more than 800 businesses implementing the new system hired almost 10-thousand new employees.
But although these moves might have helped big companies... its quite a different story for smaller ones.
"Many think companies with fewer than 300 people are not affected by the reduced working hours, but small and medium sized businesses say they face their own hardships."
"Many large companies use small and medium sized businesses as subcontractors. So SMEs are directly affected. Also, some small businesses experienced a decrease in workload in July. I think this is because many big companies are reluctant to jump into new industries."
A professor of sociology says the government should monitor and support small companies... to successfully prepare for future implementations.
"For small and medium sized businesses, it is difficult to keep track of when their employers show up or leave work. The government should provide consulting or funding in regards to this system."
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
