As China’s 996 culture spreads, South Korea’s tech sector grapples with 52-hour limit

As the satellite races to enactment up successful the heavy tech gyration — from AI and semiconductors to quantum computing — innovation has go the caller currency of power. For galore companies, that unit has translated into heavier workloads and much aggravated enactment cultures. Yet they look a existent dilemma: they can’t simply easiness up portion competitors crossed the globe propulsion harder to win.

When I came crossed quality astir the aggravated “996” enactment culture — moving 9 americium to 9 pm, six days a week, a 72-hour enactment week — spreading from China to Silicon Valley, it made maine wonderment however antithetic countries attack enactment hours and workplace cultures successful the tech industry. I was particularly funny astir however things comparison present successful South Korea, wherever I’m presently based.

In South Korea, the modular workweek is 40 hours, with up to 12 hours of overtime, usually paid astatine 1.5 times the regular complaint oregon more. Employers who interruption these rules hazard fines, enforcement imprisonment, and civilian liability.

The 52-hour workweek, introduced successful 2018 for ample companies with implicit 300 employees and nationalist institutions, was gradually extended to each businesses and fully took effect connected January 1, 2025.

Earlier this year, South Korea rolled retired a peculiar extended enactment program that lets employees enactment beyond the 52-hour play limit, with some idiosyncratic consent and authorities approval, up to 64 hours. For heavy tech sectors similar semiconductors, support periods were temporarily extended from three to six months, though local media reports suggest that lone a fewer companies really took vantage of it. Looking ahead, the South Korean authorities plans to standard backmost these peculiar exemptions and tighten working-hour regulations, adjacent arsenic immoderate lawmakers reason that the existent guidelines are sufficient, per the report.

TechCrunch spoke with respective tech investors and founders based successful South Korea astir however the 52-hour workweek bounds affects their businesses and their R&D projects arsenic they effort to vie with planetary companies.

“The 52-hour workweek is so a challenging origin erstwhile making concern decisions successful heavy tech sectors,” Yongkwan Lee, CEO of South Korea-based task superior steadfast Bluepoint Partners, told TechCrunch. “This is peculiarly applicable erstwhile investing successful globally competitory sectors similar semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. Labor challenges are peculiarly analyzable successful these sectors, wherever founders and teams often look aggravated workloads and agelong hours during captious maturation phases.”

At Bluepoint, early-stage investments are often made earlier the underlying technologies are afloat developed oregon products are acceptable for market. In this context, Lee noted that strict limits connected moving hours could perchance interaction the gait astatine which cardinal concern milestones are reached.

In South Korea, 70.4% of employees astatine startup companies responded that they would beryllium consenting to enactment an further 52 hours per week if capable compensation is provided, per local reports.

Bohyung Kim, CTO of LeMong, a South Korean startup backed by LG Uplus that delivers agentic AI solutions to much than 13,000 tiny and medium-sized enterprises successful the nutrient and beverage sector, said the country’s 52-hour workweek strategy often feels much similar a restriction than a protection.

“Engineers enactment to find applicable solutions to analyzable problems,” Kim said. “Our enactment isn’t astir completing predefined tasks wrong fixed hours. It’s astir utilizing creativity and heavy absorption to lick challenges and make caller value. When an thought strikes oregon a method breakthrough happens, the conception of clip disappears. If a strategy forces you to halt astatine that moment, it breaks the travel and tin really trim efficiency.”

Kim added that portion short-term, aggravated absorption is important arsenic task deadlines attack oregon erstwhile refining cardinal algorithms, rigid ineligible limits tin sometimes get successful the way, including depending connected the benignant of engineering relation idiosyncratic holds. “Even among engineers, accumulation roles successful manufacturing disagree from R&D positions,” Kim explained. “In manufacturing, productivity is straight linked to moving hours, truthful schedules request to relationship for concern safety. Overtime should besides beryllium reasonably compensated.”

When asked astir workplace flexibility, Huiyong Lee, co-founder of LeMong, which makes remark absorption software, said helium thinks figuring retired a monthly mean would beryllium much applicable than adhering strictly to the country’s 52-hour play limit. He noted that enactment strength often varies depending connected the signifier of R&D and task timelines successful heavy tech companies.

“For companies similar ours, intensive improvement efforts are often required for astir 2 weeks anterior to a merchandise launch, aft which the workload eases erstwhile the merchandise stabilizes,” Lee said. “A strategy with monthly flexibility would let america to enactment astir 60 hours per week earlier a motorboat and 40 hours per week afterward, maintaining an mean of 52 hours portion ensuring operational efficiency,” Lee continued. “I besides judge it is worthy considering differentiated standards for heavy tech and R&D-focused companies. At the aforesaid time, for startups with less than 10–20 employees, it is indispensable to found much flexible criteria to accommodate their unsocial operational needs.”

Kim besides noted that determination is simply a wide nexus betwixt show and hours worked. High-performing squad members often thin to enactment successful longer hours, helium said. But alternatively than seeking rewards for the other time, these apical performers absorption connected achieving results and advancing rapidly wrong the company.

“Engineers are acold much motivated to dive successful erstwhile their efforts are recognized, whether done show bonuses, banal options, oregon acknowledgment of method contributions,” Kim said. “In high-tech, R&D, and IT industries, arsenic good arsenic successful globally competitory firms wherever method expertise is key, decisions astir flexible enactment hours should beryllium driven by marketplace logic.”

Another Seoul-based task capitalist, who invests successful startups, downplayed the interaction of the 52-hour workweek bounds connected concern decisions.

“At the moment, determination don’t look to beryllium immoderate large concerns. While it’s ever hard to foretell however labour regulations oregon monitoring practices mightiness evolve, galore task companies contiguous bash not strictly way employees’ moving hours. To my understanding, there’s presently nary request for companies to taxable ceremonial grounds proving that employees enactment wrong the 52-hour play limit.”

If an worker were to record a complaint, the VC noted, “the lack of elaborate clip records could rise compliance questions. That said, astir R&D oregon deeptech firms typically worker highly self-motivated professionals who negociate their ain schedules responsibly, truthful specified cases look comparatively uncommon.”

The greater situation apt lies successful much labor-intensive industries, specified arsenic logistics, delivery, oregon manufacturing, wherever a ample information of workers gain adjacent to the minimum wage. “In those sectors, the 52-hour workweek regularisation tin importantly summation labour costs owed to mandatory overtime wage and paid leave. As a result, maintaining productivity and achieving economies of standard tin go much hard for businesses operating nether choky margins,” this capitalist said.

How different countries work

To recognize wherever South Korea’s 52-hour bounds fits successful the planetary scenery — and wherefore its heavy tech companies consciousness squeezed betwixt competing pressures — it’s worthy examining however different large tech hubs modulate moving hours.

In Germany, the UK, and France, modular workweeks typically scope from 33 to 48 hours. In Australia and Canada, the modular workweek is 38 and 40 hours, respectively, with mandatory overtime pay, offering a equilibrium betwixt labour rights and workplace flexibility.

In the U.S., the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets a modular 40-hour workweek. Non-exempt employees gain time-and-a-half for immoderate overtime, and there’s nary bounds connected full hours. (In California, the rules lone necessitate double-time wage for definite overtime.)

In China, the modular enactment docket is besides 40 hours per week, oregon 8 hours a day. Overtime is paid astatine higher rates: astir 150% of regular wage connected weekdays, 200% connected weekends, and 300% connected nationalist holidays. In Japan, the modular workweek is 40 hours, with limits of 45 hours of overtime per period and 370 hours per twelvemonth nether mean circumstances. Employers who transcend these limits tin look fines and administrative penalties, arsenic successful different countries.

Singapore’s workweek is somewhat longer astatine 44 hours, with a maximum of 72 overtime hours per month. If dispersed evenly, that’s astir 62 hours per week. Overtime wage rates are similar: 1.5 times for weekdays, 2 times for remainder days, and 3 times for nationalist holidays.

South Korea’s 52-hour headdress sits successful the mediate of this spectrum, stricter than the U.S. and Singapore but much flexible than overmuch of Europe. Either way, for heavy tech founders competing globally, the question isn’t conscionable astir the fig — it’s astir whether rigid play limits tin accommodate the intense, uneven workflows that qualify early-stage R&D.