韓國不再褒獎工作狂 Workaholic South Koreans to take more time off
Park Hee-jung, a 34-year-old pharmaceutical researcher, took an 11-day holiday in May to travel to Croatia and Bosnia with his girlfriend — a relatively long vacation inconceivable for many South Koreans who remain world champion workaholics.
5月份，34歲的醫藥研究員Park Hee-jung休了11天假，帶女朋友去克羅地亞和波斯尼亞旅遊。這是相對較長的休假，對於至今領銜世界工作狂排行榜的許多韓國人是難以想象的。
“It was so good to take a long vacation but I am stressed out again because of the mountains of work,” says Mr Park. “The company encourages us to take annual holidays allowed but there are not many people who take them all.”
“休長假太好了，但我又感到很緊張，因爲工作負擔太重，”Park Hee-jung說。“公司鼓勵我們把年假休完，但用完假期的人不多。”
Mr Park is one of the country’s younger generation seeking a work-life balance but even he usually takes up less than half of his allotted annual holidays. He is not alone.
Park Hee-jung是尋求工作與生活平衡的較年輕一代韓國人中的一員，但就連他通常也休不完年假的一半。像他這樣的人很多。
Workers in South Korea — home to the longest working hours and highest suicide rate in the developed world — took just 8.6 days of holidays last year on average, the lowest among the 24 nations surveyed by online travel agency Expedia, compared with the global average of 20.5 days and the French’s 30.7 days.
韓國是發達國家裏員工工作時間最長、自殺率最高的國家。去年，韓國工人平均只休假8.6天，是在線旅遊公司Expedia所調查的24個國家裏面最低的，而全球工人平均休假天數爲20.5天，其中法國達到30.7天。
Heavy workloads and pressure from superiors have made South Koreans reluctant holidaymakers but there are growing signs that this culture may be changing with big Korean companies encouraging staff to take more time off to boost productivity and creativity, prodded by a government campaign to develop tourism in an attempt to boost sluggish domestic spending.
工作負擔重，以及來自上級的壓力，使韓國人不願休假，但有越來越多的跡象表明，這種文化或許開始發生變化。韓國政府發起了一項發展旅遊的宣傳活動以刺激萎靡的國內消費，受此推動，韓國大企業紛紛鼓勵員工充分利用年假，以提高生產率和創造力。
Samsung Electronics is one of the latest. The country’s biggest company by sales said last month it would offer a one-year optional sabbatical for those working for more than three years while extending maternity leave from one year to two years.
三星電子(Samsung Electronics)正是最近這麼做的企業之一。上個月，這家韓國銷售額最大的企業表示，將爲那些工齡超過3年的員工提供1年的可選長假，並把產假由1年延長至2年。
The move follows some other companies such as Doosan, SK Energy, S-Oil and Shinhan Bank that have instituted a compulsory annual two-week holiday.
先於三星採取動作的是斗山(Doosan)、SK Energy、S-Oil石油公司和新韓銀行(Shinhan Bank)等企業，它們都推出了每年兩週的必休假期。
Shinhan even uses some strong-arm tactics to keep its workaholic employees out of the office during the holiday by locking them out of the computer system while oil refiner S-Oil helps staff to use up all two weeks of mandatory leave by naming a colleague to take the employee’s place while they are away.
新韓銀行甚至採取了強制手法——禁止“工作狂”員工在休假期間登錄公司計算機系統。煉油企業S-Oil則幫助員工用完兩週的必休假期，辦法是在員工休假時，指定一名同事頂替其職責。
Several shipyards such as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering also close its entire factories and offices for two weeks over the summer holiday.
暑假期間，大宇造船和船舶工程公司(Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering)等造船企業把全部工廠和辦公室關閉了兩週。
“In a knowledge-based economy, longer working hours do not necessarily mean higher efficiency,” says Kim Pan-jung, a director at the Korea Employers Federation. “We need innovative ideas to add value, so more companies are encouraging their workers to recharge through longer leave.”
“在知識經濟中，增加工作時長未必意味着提高效率，”韓國經營者總協會(Korea Employers Federation)的一名負責人Kim Pan-jung說。“我們需要創新的思路來增添價值，所以企業紛紛鼓勵員工通過較長的假期給自己充電。”
Mr Kim expects such changes to accelerate as companies want to save compensation costs for unused holidays in the slowing economy while the government tries to create jobs and improve living standards by reducing working hours.
Kim Pan-jung預計這種變化將會加速，因爲面對經濟放緩，各企業想要省下未休假期的薪酬補償成本，而政府也在試圖通過縮短工時，創造就業崗位並提高生活水準。
South Koreans forged strong work ethics during the country’s rapid industrialisation over the past half a century to transform the war-torn country into the world’s seventh largest trading nation by volume, according to WTO data for 2014. They put in an average of 2,163 work hours in 2013, second only to Mexico among developed countries.
過去半個世紀的快速工業化，把韓國這個飽受戰爭摧殘的國家轉變爲世界第七貿易大國（據2014年的世貿組織(WTO)數據），在此過程中，韓國人形成了強大的工作倫理。2013年，韓國人均工作時間爲2163小時，在發達國家中僅次於墨西哥。
But the OECD says the long hours have not translated into better productivity. In 2012, the latest year for which data have been released, South Korea’s labour productivity per hour worked was just 66 per cent of the OECD average and less than half that of the US.
但經合組織(OECD)表示，工作時間長並未轉化爲更高的生產率。2012年（已發佈數據的最近一個年份），韓國工人的每小時產出僅爲經合組織平均值的66%，不到美國的一半。
Under the country’s labour law, South Koreans are entitled to 15-25 days of annual leave but using their full vacation time, especially taking two weeks off at a shot, is not feasible for many of them, especially at small and midsized companies suffering from labour shortages. In the country’s hierarchical Confucian culture, the rank and file will not take holiday unless the boss does too.
根據韓國的勞動法，員工有權享受15至25天的年假，但用完年假（尤其是連續休假兩週）對很多人來說是行不通的，特別是在人手緊張的中小企業。在該國等級分明的儒家文化中，除非老闆休假，否則普通員工是不好意思休假的。
Kim Jong-woo, a 42-year-old software developer, is entitled to 17 days of annual leave but he usually takes just four days off in the summer. The only time he took a whole week off was when he got married. “I can’t imagine missing two weeks in a row because I don’t want to upset my boss,” he says. “I rather prefer to work through for compensation pay.”
42歲的軟件開發者Kim Jong-woo享有17天年假，但他通常只在夏天休4天假。唯一一次連續休假一整週是在他結婚的時候。“我不能想象一下子休兩週假，因爲我不想讓老闆不高興”，他說。“我寧願上班，得到補償工資。”
Experts say it will take a long time to resolve the national vacation deficit, unless the government and companies bring in more radical steps to change the culture. “We should shake off this long-held perception that long hours mean hard work,” says Bae Kyu-shik at the Korea Labour Institute. “The laws and systems are there but changing the public attitudes towards holiday is not easy.”
專家表示，解決全國性休假不足問題將需要很長時間，除非政府和企業引入更激進的措施來改變當前文化。“我們應當擺脫工作時間長意味着工作勤奮這一長期看法，”韓國勞動研究院(Korea Labour Institute)的Bae Kyu-shik說。“法律和制度已到位，但改變公衆對假期的態度並非易事。”
The omens from the country’s big boss are not good either. Earlier this month, President Park Geun-hye stressed the summer holiday season should be an opportunity to boost domestic spending.
韓國的大領導也發出不好的信號。本月早些時候，韓國總統朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)強調，夏日休假季節應成爲提振國內消費的一個機遇。
She stayed at the presidential Blue House during her five-day break last month as she did during her holiday last year, keeping an eye on national affairs.
上月，就像去年休假時那樣，朴槿惠在5天休假期間一直呆在總統府邸青瓦臺，關注着國事。
