Aisa bhi hota hai!!

We in India might have a problem where we feel that the PSU employees work on the clock, never a minute early or never late. In fact the perception formed is that they are the most lax kind of employees.

And the exact opposite of this is South Korea. There, PSU employees work about 1,000 hours more a year than public workers in member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Government employees work for 2,738 hours per person a year on average while those in ordinary duties work for 2,271 hours a year. The average annual working hours of public servants in OECD nations is 1,763 hours.

The Govt wants to correct this and wants it employees to go back home much sooner. Starting this month, Seoul’s city hall power is being turned off every Friday at 8PM and from May, it will be turned off at 7PM. This is forcibly ensure that employees leave work. The Govt actually wanted to turn off the power at 6PM but it was inundated with exemption requests, which is why it has now started off with 8PM.

South Korea is trying to correct this work-life imbalance where Govt employees spend very long hours at work which does not necessarily translate into higher productivity. The private sector employees stick around at work much longer. The Govt hopes that the private sector take a cue from them and initiates such meaures too.

Apart from the police and fire department, where do we see such dedication?