28 December, 2005

work smarter, not harder

A new study by the International Labor Organization. summarized by the IHT, reveals that Korea has plenty of room to grow its economy. If only because the staggeringly low worker productivity levels give the land of the morning calm a lot of room for improvement.:

Picture-7It’s the sort of distinction that leaves you wondering whether to offer praise or pity: South Koreans worked longer hours last year than anyone else on the planet, 30 percent more than Americans and 65 percent longer than the French.

Workers in South Korea put in an average of 2,380 hours in 2004 - about 48 hours a week with a two-week vacation….

France is the world’s most productive country on an hourly basis, according to the KILM. But measured on the basis of each employee, America is leagues ahead of every other country.  In other words, when the French work, they are extremely efficient. But since an employee takes five weeks of vacation or more, he or she produces less for a company over the course of a year than a worker in the United States. …(France is still relatively competitive on a per-employee basis, however, coming in fifth place.)  Measured annually, each employee in the United States last year produced an average of $63,617 worth of goods and services, calculated in 1990 dollars. This is 37 percent more productive than in Britain, 17 percent more than France, 45 percent more than Germany, and 40 percent more than Japan…

As for South Koreans, they could easily cut back on their long hours if they raised their productivity, which on an hourly basis stands at just over one-third the level of the French.

(Via Nomad)

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

by @ 1:46 pm. Filed under South Korea, Asia, East Asia, Economy, Northeast Asia

Leave a Reply

[powered by WordPress.]

Free Hao Wu
Keep on Blogging!

Support Bloggers' Rights!
Support Bloggers' Rights!




Search Blog

Archives

December 2005
M T W T F S S
« Nov   Jan »
  1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 28 29 30 31  

Categories

China

Japan

Hong Kong

The Koreas

Taiwan

India & South Asia

Global & Regional

Meta Data

Listed on BlogShares Ecosystem Details

Other

Design By: Apothegm Designs

sponsors



AsiaPundit Friends

Adopt


Recommended


Mr. China - by Tim Clissold:

How to lose $400 million in the world's biggest market.


Imelda - Power, Myth, Illusion:
A documentary on the former Philippine first lady that is damning, sympathetic and incredibly funny.


Yat Kha - Re Covers:
Siberian throat-singing punk band searches for its roots


5.6.7.8.'s - Bomb the Twist:
Three Japanese women play 1950's-inspired punk.


Gigantor Box Set Volume 1:
The original giant Japanese robot


Mao: The Unknown Story - by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday:
A controversial and damning biography of the Helmsman.

Recent Posts

recent comments

  • Falen: Michael, Are you trolling from one website to the next? How dare you to call Blues "anti-democratic"! I think...
  • Michael Turton: Both those commentors above are incorrect. Taiwan must have weapons to guarantee its own security,...
  • mahathir_fan: The source of the anger is probably because the Stephen YOung the unofficial "ambassador" to Taipei...
  • mahathir_fan: I want to applaud legislator Li Ao for his outspokenness on the arms procurement issue and for debating...
  • mahathir_fan: "A widening Chinese anti-corruption inquiry has targeted Beijing’s party leaders, in a sign that...

Sponsors

Your Ad Here

singapore

Malaysia

Indonesia

Phillippines

Vietnam

More from China

31 queries. 0.423 seconds