Name: 亞洲職場很奴？亞洲人為何難以實現工作與生活的平衡？(Why work-life balance is a struggle in Asia)
Uploaded: 2025-03-14T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 12 min 59 s

For many of the 8 million workers in Japan's capital, it's time to go home.

對於日本首都 800 萬工人中的許多人來說，是時候回家了。

而對其他人來說，則是去酒吧。

And then there are those who aren't rushing to get anywhere.

As they're still at work, putting in much more than your standard eight-hour day.

因為他們還在工作，每天的工作時間遠遠超過標準的八小時。

Japan and many other Asian countries have been struggling to curb a culture of overwork, where long hours and self-sacrifice are the norm.

日本和許多其他亞洲國家一直在努力遏制超負荷工作的文化，在這種文化中，長時間工作和自我犧牲是常態。

Karoshi crisis as employees in Japan are working themselves to death.

日本員工累死累活的 Karoshi 危機。

The rejection of hustle culture has been happening all around the world, including China.

包括中國在內的全世界都在抵制喧囂文化。

Now many governments across Asia are reconsidering the negative effects of an always-on work culture.

現在，亞洲許多國家的政府都在重新考慮 "永遠在線 "的工作文化所帶來的負面影響。

But can the region embrace a healthier work-life balance?

但是，該地區能否實現更健康的工作與生活平衡呢？

Or is the pressure to put in long hours too much?

They all describe an unsustainable work culture, driven by demand to work long hours, often for little to no extra pay.

他們都描述了一種不可持續的工作文化，這種文化是由長時間工作的需求驅動的，而且往往幾乎沒有額外報酬。

In China, 996 refers to a work schedule from 9am to 9pm, six days a week.

在中國，"996 "指的是每週工作六天，從早上 9 點到晚上 9 點。

And while few want to pull such long hours, many feel they have no choice.

雖然很少有人願意長時間工作，但許多人認為他們別無選擇。

Surveys show that people across Asia work longer hours than anywhere else in the world.

調查顯示，亞洲人的工作時間比世界任何地方都長。

The five-day, 40-hour working week introduced in 1926 has been the standard in global workplaces.

1926 年引入的每週 5 天 40 小時工作制一直是全球工作場所的標準。

Now some European countries and Australia support a six-hour workday.

現在，一些歐洲國家和澳洲支持六小時工作制。

In North America, the average work week is nearly 38 hours, according to a report by the International Labour Organization.

根據國際勞工組織的一份報告，在北美，每週平均工作時間接近 38 小時。

People in South Asia and East Asia work about 49 hours per week, the longest in the world.

南亞和東亞人每週工作約 49 小時，是世界上工作時間最長的地區。

In Asian countries, the norm is that you work 70 hours a day.

在亞洲國家，通常每天工作 70 個小時。

And in Europe, you work a little bit harder than your peers.

在歐洲，你要比你的同齡人更努力一些。

So you have to work with the given culture norm.

是以，你必須遵循既定的文化規範。

And over here, probably it's harder to make a change when you already have more severe overworking problems.

而在這裡，當你已經有了更嚴重的過度勞累問題時，可能就更難做出改變了。

In Japan, working one's self to death is known as karoshi.

在日本，把自己活活累死被稱為 "Karoshi"。

The term describes what happens to people who die from diseases brought on by long working hours.

這個詞描述的是因長時間工作導致疾病而死亡的人的情況。

Official figures for 2023 reported 54 deaths from overwork-induced health problems, such as strokes and heart attacks.

2023 年的官方數據顯示，有 54 人死於過度勞累引發的健康問題，如中風和心臟病發作。

It has prompted the Japanese government to enact laws to ensure workers get enough rest.

這促使日本政府頒佈法律，確保工人有足夠的休息時間。

In Japan, there's a lot of involuntary overwork.

在日本，有很多非自願的超負荷工作。

I have to stay in my office because my boss is still here, my colleagues are here, and I feel a significant pressure from my workplace and from my clients, etc.

我必須呆在辦公室裡，因為我的老闆還在這裡，我的同事也在這裡，我感到來自工作場所和客戶等方面的巨大壓力。

And this could lead to involuntary overwork, which is really bad for your well-being.

這可能會導致非自願性的過度勞累，對你的健康非常不利。

Countries throughout Asia have reported tragic instances of employees being worked to death.

亞洲各國都報告了僱員被活活累死的悲慘事件。

In countries like China and Japan, where there are strong manufacturing industries, overwork can be difficult to avoid.

在中國和日本等製造業發達的國家，超負荷工作難以避免。

Four of the world's top six manufacturing nations are in the region.

世界六大製造業國家中有四個位於該地區。

Because of the international division of labor, it's particularly harder for us because the world productivity is actually tricky.

由於國際分工的存在，世界生產力實際上很棘手，這對我們來說尤其困難。

The European countries, the workers there, they are so-called more productive because they occupy the more creative industries.

歐洲國家的工人，他們所謂的生產力更高，是因為他們佔據了更具創造性的產業。

In the global value chain, they can actually claim more share than Asian countries.

在全球價值鏈中，它們實際上可以比亞洲國家獲得更多的份額。

So it's harder for us to adapt to the more flexible work schedules.

是以，我們更難適應更加靈活的工作時間安排。

For decades, industrial manufacturing has been seen as the key driver of a nation's economic ascendance.

幾十年來，工業製造業一直被視為國家經濟崛起的關鍵驅動力。

It's what drove so-called economic miracles in Japan, South Korea and mainland China.

正是它推動了日本、韓國和中國大陸出現所謂的經濟奇蹟。

High-tech manufacturing transformed Taiwan from an exporter of T-shirts into the most vital semiconductor hub on earth.

高科技製造業將臺灣從一個 T 恤衫出口國轉變為全球最重要的半導體中心。

But as many of these economies grew, they embraced a work culture that would seem excessively demanding elsewhere in the world.

但是，隨著這些經濟體中許多國家的發展，它們接受了一種在世界其他地方看來要求過高的工作文化。

It's what I call the input-driven culture.

這就是我所說的輸入驅動型文化。

If you think about output equals productivity times input, there's two ways you can do this, right?

如果你認為產出等於生產率乘以投入，那麼有兩種方法可以做到這一點，對嗎？

You increase output, you can try to be more productive, or you can try to increase your input.

你可以增加產出，可以努力提高生產率，也可以努力增加投入。

And I think the post-war economic miracle in Japan has been on the input side.

我認為，日本戰後的經濟奇蹟是投入方面的奇蹟。

So basically, in order to achieve results, you work like hell.

是以，基本上，為了取得成果，你必須拼命工作。

Work long hours until you get the results that you need.

長時間工作，直到取得所需的成果。

And if you're not getting the results, you're not trying hard enough.

如果你沒有取得成果，那就說明你還不夠努力。

Karoshi also refers to work-related suicide cases.

Karoshi 也指與工作有關的自殺案件。

Some 82% of Japanese workers in 2022 reported experiencing strong anxiety, worry or stress related to their work or professional lives, according to a paper published by the country's Health and Labour Ministry.

據日本厚生勞動省發佈的一份文件顯示，2022 年約有 82% 的日本工人表示在工作或職業生活中經歷過強烈的焦慮、擔憂或壓力。

The situation has worsened in recent years.

Nearly 3,000 people died from overwork-related suicides in 2022, up from 1,935 from the previous year.

2022 年，近 3000 人死於過勞自殺，比上一年的 1935 人有所增加。

Experts say many suffered from mental stress in the workplace.

專家說，許多人在工作場所承受著精神壓力。

Some governments are trying to address the problem.

一些國家的政府正在努力解決這一問題。

Singapore gave workers the right to request four-day work weeks in December 2024.

新加坡於 2024 年 12 月賦予工人要求每週工作四天的權利。

The Tokyo metropolitan government is set to introduce a four-day work week in April 2025.

東京都政府將於 2025 年 4 月開始實行每週四天工作制。

Some experts say the move is a step in the right direction.

一些專家認為，此舉是朝著正確方向邁出的一步。

I'm sure there are a lot of private sector companies that are saying, well, we'll see what happens.

我相信有很多私營公司都會說，好吧，我們拭目以待。

You know, Tokyo government's going to start it.

Let's see if it's going to be successful or not.

And maybe we will consider doing this in our workplace as well.

也許我們也會考慮在工作場所這樣做。

The Japanese government took steps to prevent kuroshi and other health disorders related to overwork in 2014.

2014 年，日本政府採取了措施來預防黑斑病和其他與過度勞累有關的健康疾病。

Four years later, officials introduced laws to limit the longest overtime hours and ensure workers have enough rest time between when work ends and starts again.

四年後，官員們出臺了法律，限制最長的加班時間，並確保工人在工作結束和重新開始之間有足夠的休息時間。

But experts say the measures can only help reduce the physical harm from long working hours.

但專家表示，這些措施只能幫助減少長時間工作對身體造成的傷害。

The number of workers who are admitted to work has been decreasing.

進入工作崗位的工人數量一直在減少。

So I think there are a lot of effects that are coming out of this.

是以，我認為這將產生很多影響。

On the other hand, the number of people who are mentally ill, who work too much, or who don't have a good working environment are increasing rapidly.

另一方面，患有精神疾病、工作過度或沒有良好工作環境的人數正在迅速增加。

The number of people who are mentally ill is increasing rapidly.

精神病患者的人數正在迅速增加。

The number of people who are admitted to work is also increasing rapidly.

進入工作崗位的人數也在迅速增加。

And now, the increase in mental illness is more problematic.

而現在，精神疾病的增加更成問題。

We are working hard to find out why this is happening.

我們正在努力找出出現這種情況的原因。

The government first floated the idea of a shorter working week in 2021 with support from lawmakers.

在立法者的支持下，政府於 2021 年首次提出了縮短工作周的想法。

But the concept has been slow to catch on.

Only about 8% of companies in Japan allow employees to have three or more days off per week, while 7% give their workers the legally mandated one day off, according to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

根據日本厚生勞動省的數據，日本只有約 8%的公司允許員工每週休息 3 天或更多天，而 7%的公司給予員工法定的 1 天假期。

Even among companies that allow employees to work four days a week, experts say only a few employees have taken up the offer.

專家說，即使在允許員工每週工作四天的公司中，也只有少數員工接受了這一提議。

Even to this day, one of the reasons that people end up working long hours is that they're very, very conscious of the people around them.

時至今日，人們長時間工作的原因之一是，他們非常非常關注周圍的人。

If I'm ready to go home at 5, but my boss is working, or my colleagues are still working, I feel bad about leaving.

如果我五點鐘就準備回家，但我的老闆還在工作，或者我的同事還在工作，我就會覺得不應該離開。

And so, I will stay because I don't want to disrupt the harmony of the workplace.

所以，我會留下來，因為我不想破壞工作場所的和諧。

And it's also hierarchical in the sense that this might affect my performance review, my boss might not think well of me, etc.

這也是一種等級制度，因為這可能會影響我的績效考核，我的老闆可能會對我不太滿意，等等。

So, yeah, those workplace cultures could get in the way of this.

所以，是的，這些職場文化可能會妨礙這一點。

In some countries like China, change is coming from the bottom up.

在中國等一些國家，變革是自下而上的。

Chinese workers are not allowed to form independent unions.

Instead, the government controls the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, which is often ineffective at protecting workers.

相反，政府控制的中華全國總工會在保護工人方面往往無能為力。

Workers can only adjust their mental status by being lazy, refusing overtime and hiding in the toilets.

工人們只能通過偷懶、拒絕加班和躲進廁所來調整自己的精神狀態。

They call it touching fish, meaning one should take advantage of a crisis to chase personal gain.

他們稱之為 "摸魚"，意思是利用危機追逐個人利益。

Now, workers are getting increasingly dissatisfied.