Executive Summary
To learn more about the working hours of Hong Kong workers and how the long hours affected the family life, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service conducted a telephone survey in the period from March 6 to March 31, 2000.
A random sample of Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above and with employment was obtained for the survey. In all, 500 telephone interviews were successfully completed. The findings show that, 9.0% of the respondents worked at least 12 hours a day. Respondents working in two types of occupation tended to have longer hours: 51.6% of the "plant and machine operators and assemblers" and 50.0% of the "managers and administrators" worked at least 10 hours a day.
The survey also found that 69.4% of the respondents considered working 10 hours or more a day as long; that is, up to 10 hours a day was still acceptable. Of the 116 respondents who worked between 10 to 12 hours a day, 51.7% considered their working hours as acceptable. Of the 44 respondents who worked at least 12 hours a day, 22.7% considered their working hours as acceptable. This seems to show that many Hong Kong workers are willing to put up with long working hours.
On the other hand, 25.8% or 129 respondents considered their working hours as long or very long. Of these 129 respondents, 67.4% said that the time spent with family members was affected by the long hours, 58.1% said that communication with family members was affected, and 57.8% said that showing care and concern for family members was affected. Parents were particularly worried about the effect of long working hours. Of those who lived with their children, 69.8% said that the time spent with family members was affected, 61.9% said that communication with family members was affected, and 60.3% said showing that care and concern for family members was affected.
Based
on these findings, it is believed that how to strike a balance between work
and family is an important issue that warrants attention from all parties concerned.
Policy makers, employers and employees should all contribute to achieve the
best results.
Updated Date : 7/7/2000
2001 (c) 香港社會服務聯會Hong Kong Council of Social Service. All Rights
Reserved.