[Column] Korea should transition to 'smart labor' so both old and young can keep working

Kurzgesagt, a German science YouTube channel, recently released a video titled “SOUTH KOREA IS OVER,” warning of a bleak future for South Korea. It cited the country's ultra-low birthrate. The gist of the video was that, due to the extreme decline in fertility, 100 South Koreans today could be reduced to just five in four generations. Eventually, the country's pension and social systems would collapse due to the explosion of support costs for older adults, making it difficult for society to survive. The channel blamed structural problems in South Korean society, such as extremely fierce competition and long working hours, and criticized the culture that makes young people not want to have children. Only dramatic policy changes to encourage fertility, the channel argued, could lead to a long-term recovery.

Of course, as my previous columns have shown, the population pyramid doesn't determine everything about a society. The healthier and more active people are as they age, the lower the real old-age dependency ratio becomes. Age 65 is no longer the point at which people are unable to work. Individuals can continue contributing to society and earning income as long as their health and abilities permit. This shift alters both the numerator and the denominator in the dependency calculation. Many people aged 65 to 74 will remain in the denominator as “dependents,” while the number of older adults who actually require support -- the numerator -- will shrink. A study published in 2022 recalculated the dependency ratio based on health status and found that the actual dependency burden in developed countries, including South Korea, tended to be lower than traditional statistics suggested.

Nevertheless, the overall social climate needs to change significantly for young people to feel encouraged to start families and have children. The process of having and raising children requires both sufficient income and time for caregiving. Raising a child is, in many ways, comparable to providing live-in care for an elderly person -- something that is fundamentally incompatible with the working conditions in our society. Nobel Prize winner Claudia Goldin drew a distinction between “greedy jobs” and “less greedy jobs.” The former refers to positions that place nearly unlimited demands on a worker’s time and energy, while the latter exist within organizational cultures that support a relatively good work-life balance. Comparing these two types of workplaces, Goldin argued that women with childcare responsibilities tend to choose the latter, contributing to the gender pay gap. All in all, South Korean workplaces are, by default, pretty greedy.

We still work some of the longest hours in the world, and some people even argue that we should be working 69 hours a week instead of 52. On top of that, we have one of the longest average commutes globally. As a result, young Koreans often find it unaffordable -- both financially and in terms of time -- to start a family and raise children. According to Statistics Korea, as of the second half of 2023, 56.8 percent of couples with children under the age of 18 were both working -- the highest percentage ever recorded. Meanwhile, the older generation appears to be making the working environment even more demanding. In a statement released to the media in March, four senior professors at Seoul National University Hospital said, “The current professors stayed at the hospital almost every day during their residency, caring for patients, learning, mastering, and growing. There were times when they worked 140 to 150 hours a week, but we know that the process was the foundation that made Korean healthcare what it is today.”

I'm not suggesting they did, of course, but sleep deprivation and overwork can severely impair judgment, potentially leading to unnecessary medical errors.

Japan has been labeled as having experienced the “lost 30 years,” but they're in better shape than Koreans are. In a 2020 study, Professor Charles Goodhart of the London School of Economics found that while Japan’s working-age population declined by 1 percent per year, GDP per capita continued to grow by 1 percent per year, and productivity per worker increased by 2 percent per year -- effectively offsetting the population decline. This challenges the prevailing narrative in our society that younger generations are being forced to work longer, more exploitative hours. Japan’s working-age population peaked in the 1990s, indexed to 100 in 1985, and has been declining ever since -- along with the average number of hours worked. However, the total number of employed people has remained relatively stable. This is largely due to the expansion of part-time and temporary employment among older workers, which has helped compensate for the shortage of younger labor.

Flexible work contracts have become the norm in Japan, with generations of workers across various industries working as little as 8 to 24 hours per week and sharing jobs across age groups. In the process, the traditional concept of seniority has faded. Encouraging the employment of older workers has enabled skilled labor to remain in the workforce longer. This shift has been accompanied by efforts to offset the impact of a shrinking domestic labor pool through automation and overseas investment. As a result, Japan has maintained a low unemployment rate near full employment and a stable income level for its citizens -- avoiding the kind of economic crisis often associated with an aging population.

It's long overdue, but the time has come for us to rethink our approach to work. We need to move away from the outdated emphasis on agricultural-style diligence and the norm of working indefinitely under inclusive wage contracts. Instead, we must transition to smart work—where we can achieve higher productivity while spending less time on the same tasks. This shift is not only necessary because we now live in a knowledge-driven society; it’s also essential for adopting what former National Assembly Futures Institute (NAFI) president Kim Hyun-gon calls the “21st-century life model.” This model advocates a lifelong balance of study, rest, and work. By embracing this approach, people can maintain employment longer, become more productive, and still have the time and capacity to raise children.

Jung Hee-won, a geriatric physician at Asan Medical Center, graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine and trained at Seoul National University Hospital. During his med-school days, while practicing the horn, he realized the importance of muscle maintenance and became interested in sarcopenia. His main research interests include frailty, sarcopenia and establishing age-friendly health systems for acute hospitals. This column was originally published in Chosun Ilbo in Korean on May 7, 2025. -- Ed.