Fact of the Day: Hongkongers are Overworked

Hongkongers are some of the most overworked people in the world

A study released today has found one in five employees work an average of 11 hours a day, with security guards working the most.

The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions analyzed the latest labour data from the Census and Statistics Department and found 20 percent of the city's 3 million employees worked an average of 55 hours per week last year, or an average of 11 hours a day for a five-day work week.

Half of food and drink employees work 56 hours a week

"Hong Kong employees have been working super long hours for years," says Mung Siu-tat, chief executive of the confederation. "This is because the government has never taken any concrete measures to ease this problem, which has been harming workers' family well-being, health and even lives."

People who work in security, food and drink, land transport, construction and retail industries have the longest working hours.

Almost half of security guards work 56 hours a week, a quarter of them work a staggering 72 hours. Also almost half of food and drink employees work 56 hours a week, along with one-quarter of land transport workers, 16 percent of construction workers and 16 percent of retail employees.

On top of that their salaries hardly compensate for the hours worked -- entry- and mid-level employees saw an average growth in their salaries of just 0.7 percent between 2008 to 2018 -- after taking into account inflation rates, while gross domestic product per capita rose annually by 2 percent.

"This shows that even though employees work so hard, they cannot get reasonable returns," Mung says.

Many security guards work 12 hours shifts, six days a week

While the government set up a Standard Working Hours Committee in 2013, it was only two years ago that the committee recommended the government require employers to establish agreements with entry-level employees about working hours and overtime compensation arrangements.

But the government has so far only promised to introduce working hours guidelines in 11 industries, with no plans announced yet to legislate standard working hours.

This shows the government doesn't care about the city's 3 million workers, the ones who keep Hong Kong's capitalistic characteristics functioning, whether it be feeding people, selling customers products, or making sure a property is safe from intruders.

Instead it's all about helping companies squeeze out as much labour as they can from their staff to ensure a profitable bottom line. If they're burned out, just hire the next person.

In 2016 financial services firm UBS released a study of working hours among 71 world cities and found Hong Kong workers had the longest.

Is this something we really want to brag about?