Because the world races to remain forward within the deep tech revolution — from AI and semiconductors to quantum computing — innovation has grow to be the brand new foreign money of energy. For a lot of corporations, that strain has translated into heavier workloads and extra intense work cultures. But they face an actual dilemma: they will’t merely ease up whereas opponents throughout the globe push tougher to win.
After I got here throughout information concerning the intense “996” work culture — working 9 am to 9 pm, six days every week, a 72-hour work week — spreading from China to Silicon Valley, it made me surprise how totally different nations strategy work hours and office cultures within the tech trade. I used to be particularly interested by how issues examine right here in South Korea, the place I’m at the moment primarily based.
In South Korea, the usual workweek is 40 hours, with as much as 12 hours of overtime, often paid at 1.5 occasions the common charge or extra. Employers who violate these guidelines threat fines, govt imprisonment, and civil legal responsibility.
The 52-hour workweek, introduced in 2018 for big corporations with over 300 staff and public establishments, was step by step prolonged to all companies and fully took effect on January 1, 2025.
Earlier this 12 months, South Korea rolled out a special extended work program that lets staff work past the 52-hour weekly restrict, with each employee consent and authorities approval, as much as 64 hours. For deep tech sectors like semiconductors, approval intervals have been quickly prolonged from three to six months, although local media reports recommend that only some corporations really took benefit of it. Wanting forward, the South Korean authorities plans to cut back these particular exemptions and tighten working-hour laws, at the same time as some lawmakers argue that the present tips are enough, per the report.
TechCrunch spoke with a number of tech buyers and founders primarily based in South Korea about how the 52-hour workweek restrict impacts their companies and their R&D tasks as they attempt to compete with world corporations.
“The 52-hour workweek is certainly a difficult issue when making funding choices in deep tech sectors,” Yongkwan Lee, CEO of South Korea-based enterprise capital agency Bluepoint Partners, instructed TechCrunch. “That is notably related when investing in globally aggressive sectors like semiconductors, synthetic intelligence, and quantum computing. Labor challenges are notably complicated in these sectors, the place founders and groups typically face intense workloads and lengthy hours throughout vital progress phases.”
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At Bluepoint, early-stage investments are sometimes made earlier than the underlying applied sciences are totally developed or merchandise are prepared for market. On this context, Lee famous that strict limits on working hours might probably impression the tempo at which key enterprise milestones are reached.
In South Korea, 70.4% of staff at startup corporations responded that they might be prepared to work a further 52 hours per week if satisfactory compensation is supplied, per local reports.
Bohyung Kim, CTO of LeMong, a South Korean startup backed by LG Uplus that delivers agentic AI options to greater than 13,000 small and medium-sized enterprises within the meals and beverage sector, stated the nation’s 52-hour workweek system typically feels extra like a restriction than a safety.
“Engineers work to search out sensible options to complicated issues,” Kim stated. “Our work isn’t about finishing predefined duties inside mounted hours. It’s about utilizing creativity and deep focus to unravel challenges and create new worth. When an concept strikes or a technical breakthrough occurs, the idea of time disappears. If a system forces you to cease at that second, it breaks the stream and might really cut back effectivity.”
Kim added that whereas short-term, intense focus is essential as challenge deadlines strategy or when refining key algorithms, inflexible authorized limits can typically get in the way in which, together with relying on the sort of engineering position somebody holds. “Even amongst engineers, manufacturing roles in manufacturing differ from R&D positions,” Kim defined. “In manufacturing, productiveness is immediately linked to working hours, so schedules must account for industrial security. Time beyond regulation must also be pretty compensated.”
When requested about office flexibility, Huiyong Lee, co-founder of LeMong, which makes remark administration software program, stated he thinks determining a month-to-month common can be extra sensible than adhering strictly to the nation’s 52-hour weekly restrict. He famous that work depth typically varies relying on the stage of R&D and challenge timelines in deep tech corporations.
“For corporations like ours, intensive growth efforts are sometimes required for about two weeks previous to a product launch, after which the workload eases as soon as the product stabilizes,” Lee stated. “A system with month-to-month flexibility would permit us to work round 60 hours per week earlier than a launch and 40 hours per week afterward, sustaining a median of 52 hours whereas guaranteeing operational effectivity,” Lee continued. “I additionally imagine it’s price contemplating differentiated requirements for deep tech and R&D-focused corporations. On the identical time, for startups with fewer than 10–20 staff, it’s important to ascertain extra versatile standards to accommodate their distinctive operational wants.”
Kim additionally famous that there’s a clear hyperlink between efficiency and hours labored. Excessive-performing workforce members typically are inclined to put in longer hours, he stated. However reasonably than searching for rewards for the additional time, these high performers concentrate on attaining outcomes and advancing shortly throughout the firm.
“Engineers are much more motivated to dive in when their efforts are acknowledged, whether or not via efficiency bonuses, inventory choices, or acknowledgment of technical contributions,” Kim stated. “In high-tech, R&D, and IT industries, in addition to in globally aggressive companies the place technical experience is essential, choices about versatile work hours needs to be pushed by market logic.”
One other Seoul-based enterprise capitalist, who invests in startups, downplayed the impression of the 52-hour workweek restrict on funding choices.
“In the meanwhile, there don’t look like any main considerations. Whereas it’s all the time troublesome to foretell how labor laws or monitoring practices may evolve, many enterprise corporations at present don’t strictly observe staff’ working hours. To my understanding, there’s at the moment no requirement for corporations to submit formal proof proving that staff keep throughout the 52-hour weekly restrict.”
If an worker have been to file a criticism, the VC famous, “the absence of detailed time information might elevate compliance questions. That stated, most R&D or deeptech companies usually worker extremely self-motivated professionals who handle their very own schedules responsibly, so such instances appear comparatively unusual.”
The higher problem seemingly lies in additional labor-intensive industries, equivalent to logistics, supply, or manufacturing, the place a big portion of employees earn near the minimal wage. “In these sectors, the 52-hour workweek regulation can considerably improve labor prices attributable to necessary additional time pay and paid depart. Consequently, sustaining productiveness and attaining economies of scale can grow to be harder for companies working below tight margins,” this investor stated.
How different nations work
To grasp the place South Korea’s 52-hour restrict matches within the world panorama — and why its deep tech corporations really feel squeezed between competing pressures — it’s price analyzing how different main tech hubs regulate working hours.
In Germany, the UK, and France, normal workweeks usually vary from 33 to 48 hours. In Australia and Canada, the usual workweek is 38 and 40 hours, respectively, with necessary additional time pay, providing a steadiness between labor rights and office flexibility.
Within the U.S., the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) units a standard 40-hour workweek. Non-exempt staff earn time-and-a-half for any additional time, and there’s no restrict on whole hours. (In California, the principles solely require double-time pay for sure additional time.)
In China, the usual work schedule can be 40 hours per week, or 8 hours a day. Time beyond regulation is paid at increased charges: roughly 150% of standard pay on weekdays, 200% on weekends, and 300% on public holidays. In Japan, the usual workweek is 40 hours, with limits of 45 hours of additional time per thirty days and 370 hours per 12 months below regular circumstances. Employers who exceed these limits can face fines and administrative penalties, as in different nations.
Singapore’s workweek is barely longer at 44 hours, with a most of 72 additional time hours per thirty days. If unfold evenly, that’s roughly 62 hours per week. Time beyond regulation pay charges are related: 1.5 occasions for weekdays, 2 occasions for relaxation days, and three occasions for public holidays.
South Korea’s 52-hour cap sits in the course of this spectrum, stricter than the U.S. and Singapore however extra versatile than a lot of Europe. Both method, for deep tech founders competing globally, the query isn’t simply concerning the quantity — it’s about whether or not inflexible weekly limits can accommodate the extraordinary, uneven workflows that characterize early-stage R&D.
