韓國不再褒獎工作狂

　　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(yī)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游。這是相對較長的休假，對于至今領(lǐng)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，因為工作負(fù)擔(dān)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(fā)達(dá)國家里員工工作時間最長、自殺率最高的國家。去年，韓國工人平均只休假8.6天，是在線旅游公司Expedia所調(diào)查的24個國家里面最低的，而全球工人平均休假天數(shù)為20.5天，其中法國達(dá)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(fù)擔(dān)重，以及來自上級的壓力，使韓國人不愿休假，但有越來越多的跡象表明，這種文化或許開始發(fā)生變化。韓國政府發(fā)起了一項發(fā)展旅游的宣傳活動以刺激萎靡的國內(nèi)消費(fèi)，受此推動，韓國大企業(yè)紛紛鼓勵員工充分利用年假，以提高生產(chǎn)率和創(chuàng)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)正是最近這么做的'企業(yè)之一。上個月，這家韓國銷售額最大的企業(yè)表示，將為那些工齡超過3年的員工提供1年的可選長假，并把產(chǎn)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.

　　先于三星采取動作的是斗山(Doosan)、SK Energy、S-Oil石油公司和新韓銀行(Shinhan Bank)等企業(yè)，它們都推出了每年兩周的必休假期。

　　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.

　　新韓銀行甚至采取了強(qiáng)制手法——禁止“工作狂”員工在休假期間登錄公司計算機(jī)系統(tǒng)。煉油企業(yè)S-Oil則幫助員工用完兩周的必休假期，辦法是在員工休假時，指定一名同事頂替其職責(zé)。

　　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(yè)把全部工廠和辦公室關(guān)閉了兩周。

　　“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(jīng)濟(jì)中，增加工作時長未必意味著提高效率，”韓國經(jīng)營者總協(xié)會(Korea Employers Federation)的一名負(fù)責(zé)人Kim Pan-jung說。“我們需要創(chuàng)新的思路來增添價值，所以企業(yè)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(yù)計這種變化將會加速，因為面對經(jīng)濟(jì)放緩，各企業(yè)想要省下未休假期的薪酬補(bǔ)償成本，而政府也在試圖通過縮短工時，創(chuàng)造就業(yè)崗位并提高生活水準(zhǔn)。

　　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(jì)的快速工業(yè)化，把韓國這個飽受戰(zhàn)爭摧殘的國家轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)槭澜绲谄哔Q(mào)易大國(據(jù)2014年的世貿(mào)組織(WTO)數(shù)據(jù))，在此過程中，韓國人形成了強(qiáng)大的工作倫理。2013年，韓國人均工作時間為2163小時，在發(fā)達(dá)國家中僅次于墨西哥。

　　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(jīng)合組織(OECD)表示，工作時間長并未轉(zhuǎn)化為更高的生產(chǎn)率。2012年(已發(fā)布數(shù)據(jù)的最近一個年份)，韓國工人的每小時產(chǎn)出僅為經(jīng)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(jù)韓國的勞動法，員工有權(quán)享受15至25天的年假，但用完年假(尤其是連續(xù)休假兩周)對很多人來說是行不通的，特別是在人手緊張的中小企業(yè)。在該國等級分明的儒家文化中，除非老板休假，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(fā)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(xù)休假一整周是在他結(jié)婚的時候。“我不能想象一下子休兩周假，因為我不想讓老板不高興”，他說。“我寧愿上班，得到補(bǔ)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(yè)引入更激進(jìn)的措施來改變當(dāng)前文化。“我們應(yīng)當(dāng)擺脫工作時間長意味著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，但改變公眾對假期的態(tài)度并非易事。”

　　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(lǐng)導(dǎo)也發(fā)出不好的信號。本月早些時候，韓國總統(tǒng)樸槿惠(Park Geun-hye)強(qiáng)調(diào)，夏日休假季節(jié)應(yīng)成為提振國內(nèi)消費(fèi)的一個機(jī)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，樸槿惠在5天休假期間一直呆在總統(tǒng)府邸青瓦臺，關(guān)注著國事。

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