In some parts of the world, clocking off work punctuality is the norm. However there are other parts of the world where staying past your regular work hours is not only expected, but also the norm where leaving on time, or at least before your boss leaves can almost be seen as a faux pas.
South Korea is one of those places where the country has over the years developed a “culture” of working overtime which is obviously unhealthy, so much so that the South Korean government has come up with a way to prevent that. In a bid to encourage employees to leave work on time, the government will shut down all computers after a certain time.
This is expected to roll out in stages where it will begin at 8PM in the first month, 7:30pm in the second month, and finally at 7PM in the third month where the program is expected to be in full-swing. Note that this only applies to those working in the government which means that for those in the private sector, no such luck, although hopefully employers will take a cue and implement something similar to encourage a better work-life balance.
Interestingly enough while this on paper sounds like good news, apparently 67.1% of government workers have asked to be exempted from this new program. It is possible that by going home early it just means that work will just end up piling up, work that needs to be done anyway.
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