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Bloomberg
Relief for Asia’s most overworked country doesn’t come easy. South Korea’s new legal limit on working hours — down to 52 hours per week from 68 — can shave as much as 0.3 percentage point off economic growth in 2020, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
“The new work-hour limit comes against the backdrop of slowing growth, highlighting the risk that Korean companies may not be able to quickly fill in the productivity gap left by the reduced work hours,†Goldman economists including Irene Choi wrote in a report. Goldman currently sees the economy growing 2.3 percent in 2020.
Fewer working hours was a key part of President Moon Jae-in’s agenda. After years of battles among lawmakers, labour unions and businesses, the law was passed in February 2018.
The restriction was applied from July 2018 to a limited number of bigger companies, and the net will be widened from July 1.