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 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’ll’t merely ease up whereas opponents throughout the globe push tougher to win.
Once I got here throughout information concerning the intense “996” work tradition — working 9 am to 9 pm, six days per week, a 72-hour work week — spreading from China to Silicon Valley, it made me marvel how completely different international locations method work hours and office cultures within the tech trade. I used to be particularly inquisitive about how issues evaluate right here in South Korea, the place I’m presently primarily based.
In South Korea, the usual workweek is 40 hours, with as much as 12 hours of additional time, often paid at 1.5 occasions the common fee or extra. Employers who violate these guidelines threat fines, govt imprisonment, and civil legal responsibility.
The 52-hour workweek, launched in 2018 for giant corporations with over 300 workers and public establishments, was step by step prolonged to all companies and totally took impact on January 1, 2025.
Earlier this 12 months, South Korea rolled out a particular prolonged work program that lets workers 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 durations had been quickly prolonged from three to 6 months, although native media studies counsel that only some corporations truly took benefit of it. Wanting forward, the South Korean authorities plans to reduce 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 traders and founders primarily based in South Korea about how the 52-hour workweek restrict impacts their companies and their R&D initiatives as they attempt to compete with international 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 Companions, instructed TechCrunch. “That is significantly related when investing in globally aggressive sectors like semiconductors, synthetic intelligence, and quantum computing. Labor challenges are significantly advanced in these sectors, the place founders and groups typically face intense workloads and lengthy hours throughout crucial 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 doubtlessly affect the tempo at which key enterprise milestones are reached.
In South Korea, 70.4% of workers at startup corporations responded that they’d be keen to work an extra 52 hours per week if sufficient compensation is supplied, per native studies.
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 advanced issues,” Kim stated. “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 scale back effectivity.”
Kim added that whereas short-term, intense focus is essential as challenge deadlines method 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 must account for industrial security. Time beyond regulation also needs to 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 improvement 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 mean of 52 hours whereas guaranteeing operational effectivity,” Lee continued. “I additionally consider 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 workers, 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 crew members typically are inclined to put in longer hours, he stated. However relatively than looking for rewards for the additional time, these high performers give attention to reaching outcomes and advancing shortly inside 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 stated. “In high-tech, R&D, and IT industries, in addition to in globally aggressive corporations the place technical experience is vital, choices about versatile work hours must be pushed by market logic.”
One other Seoul-based enterprise capitalist, who invests in startups, downplayed the affect of the 52-hour workweek restrict on funding choices.
“In the meanwhile, there don’t seem like any main considerations. Whereas it’s at all times troublesome to foretell how labor laws or monitoring practices may evolve, many enterprise corporations at present don’t strictly observe workers’ working hours. To my understanding, there’s presently no requirement for corporations to submit formal proof proving that workers keep inside the 52-hour weekly restrict.”
If an worker had been to file a criticism, the VC famous, “the absence of detailed time data might elevate compliance questions. That stated, most R&D or deeptech corporations sometimes worker extremely self-motivated professionals who handle their very own schedules responsibly, so such circumstances appear comparatively unusual.”
The higher problem doubtless lies in additional labor-intensive industries, similar 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 as a result of obligatory additional time pay and paid depart. Consequently, sustaining productiveness and reaching economies of scale can turn into tougher for companies working beneath tight margins,” this investor stated.
How different international locations work
To grasp the place South Korea’s 52-hour restrict suits within the international panorama — and why its deep tech corporations really feel squeezed between competing pressures — it’s price inspecting how different main tech hubs regulate working hours.
In Germany, the UK, and France, normal workweeks sometimes vary from 33 to 48 hours. In Australia and Canada, the usual workweek is 38 and 40 hours, respectively, with obligatory additional time pay, providing a steadiness between labor rights and office flexibility.
Within the U.S., the Truthful Labor Requirements Act (FLSA) units a normal 40-hour workweek. Non-exempt workers 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 also be 40 hours per week, or 8 hours a day. Time beyond regulation is paid at larger 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 monthly and 370 hours per 12 months beneath 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 additional time hours monthly. 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 approach, 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.
