Because the world races to remain forward within the deep tech revolution — from AI and semiconductors to quantum computing — innovation has turn into the brand new forex of energy. For a lot of firms, that stress 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 marvel how completely different international locations strategy work hours and office cultures within the tech business. I used to be particularly interested by how issues examine right here in South Korea, the place I’m at present primarily based.
In South Korea, the usual workweek is 40 hours, with as much as 12 hours of overtime, often paid at 1.5 instances the common charge or extra. Employers who violate these guidelines threat fines, government imprisonment, and civil legal responsibility.
The 52-hour workweek, introduced in 2018 for big firms with over 300 staff and public establishments, was progressively 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 had been briefly prolonged from three to six months, although local media reports recommend that only some firms truly took benefit of it. Trying forward, the South Korean authorities plans to reduce these particular exemptions and tighten working-hour rules, at the same time as some lawmakers argue that the present tips are adequate, 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 firms.
“The 52-hour workweek is certainly a difficult issue when making funding selections in deep tech sectors,” Yongkwan Lee, CEO of South Korea-based enterprise capital agency Bluepoint Partners, advised TechCrunch. “That is significantly related when investing in globally aggressive sectors like semiconductors, synthetic intelligence, and quantum computing. Labor challenges are significantly complicated in these sectors, the place founders and groups typically face intense workloads and lengthy hours throughout essential development phases.”
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At Bluepoint, early-stage investments are sometimes made earlier than the underlying applied sciences are absolutely developed or merchandise are prepared for market. On this context, Lee famous that strict limits on working hours may probably influence the tempo at which key enterprise milestones are reached.
In South Korea, 70.4% of staff at startup firms responded that they might be prepared to work an extra 52 hours per week if sufficient 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, mentioned 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 mentioned. “Our work isn’t about finishing predefined duties inside mounted hours. It’s about utilizing creativity and deep focus to resolve 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 circulation and might truly 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 generally get in the way in which, together with relying on the type 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 have to account for industrial security. Additional time must also be pretty compensated.”
When requested about office flexibility, Huiyong Lee, co-founder of LeMong, which makes remark administration software program, mentioned 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 firms.
“For firms like ours, intensive improvement efforts are sometimes required for roughly two weeks previous to a product launch, after which the workload eases as soon as the product stabilizes,” Lee mentioned. “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 making certain operational effectivity,” Lee continued. “I additionally imagine it’s value contemplating differentiated requirements for deep tech and R&D-focused firms. On the identical time, for startups with fewer than 10–20 staff, it’s important to determine 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 group members typically are likely to put in longer hours, he mentioned. However fairly than searching for rewards for the additional time, these high performers give attention to attaining outcomes and advancing shortly throughout the firm.
“Engineers are way more motivated to dive in when their efforts are acknowledged, whether or not by efficiency bonuses, inventory choices, or acknowledgment of technical contributions,” Kim mentioned. “In high-tech, R&D, and IT industries, in addition to in globally aggressive companies the place technical experience is vital, selections about versatile work hours needs to be pushed by market logic.”
One other Seoul-based enterprise capitalist, who invests in startups, downplayed the influence of the 52-hour workweek restrict on funding selections.
“In the mean time, there don’t seem like any main considerations. Whereas it’s at all times troublesome to foretell how labor rules or monitoring practices would possibly evolve, many enterprise firms immediately don’t strictly monitor staff’ working hours. To my understanding, there’s at present no requirement for firms to submit formal proof proving that staff keep throughout the 52-hour weekly restrict.”
If an worker had been to file a criticism, the VC famous, “the absence of detailed time information may increase compliance questions. That mentioned, most R&D or deeptech companies sometimes worker extremely self-motivated professionals who handle their very own schedules responsibly, so such instances appear comparatively unusual.”
The larger problem possible lies in additional labor-intensive industries, corresponding to logistics, supply, or manufacturing, the place a big portion of staff earn near the minimal wage. “In these sectors, the 52-hour workweek regulation can considerably improve labor prices on account of obligatory time beyond regulation pay and paid go away. In consequence, sustaining productiveness and attaining economies of scale can turn into tougher for companies working below tight margins,” this investor mentioned.
How different international locations work
To grasp the place South Korea’s 52-hour restrict matches within the world panorama — and why its deep tech firms really feel squeezed between competing pressures — it’s value analyzing how different main tech hubs regulate working hours.
In Germany, the UK, and France, commonplace workweeks sometimes vary from 33 to 48 hours. In Australia and Canada, the usual workweek is 38 and 40 hours, respectively, with obligatory time beyond regulation pay, providing a stability 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 time beyond regulation, and there’s no restrict on complete hours. (In California, the foundations solely require double-time pay for sure time beyond regulation.)
In China, the usual work schedule can also be 40 hours per week, or 8 hours a day. Additional time is paid at increased charges: roughly 150% of normal 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 time beyond regulation monthly and 370 hours per 12 months below regular circumstances. Employers who exceed these limits can face fines and administrative penalties, as in different international locations.
Singapore’s workweek is barely longer at 44 hours, with a most of 72 time beyond regulation hours monthly. If unfold evenly, that’s roughly 62 hours per week. Additional time pay charges are related: 1.5 instances for weekdays, 2 instances for relaxation days, and three instances for public holidays.
South Korea’s 52-hour cap sits in the midst 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 extreme, uneven workflows that characterize early-stage R&D.
