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SOURCE:    Vacation Tracker
TITLE:     Standard working hours in Asia
URL:       https://vacationtracker.io/blog/standard-working-hours-in-asia/
LANG:      en
PUBLISHED: 2019-09-16
UPDATED:   2025-07-18
AUTHOR:    Aleksandra
READING:   3 min
TAGS:      hr-insights
SUMMARY:   Standard working hours in Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Thailand.
Standard working hours in Asia

Standard working hours in Asia

Aleksandra CvetkovicMarketing Manager

3 min readPublished Updated

Standard working hours in Asia

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Key takeaways

  • Standard working hours in Asia often exceed 40–48 hours per week, with countries like Thailand and Malaysia on the higher end.
  • South Korea reduced its workweek from 68 to 53 hours to improve productivity and quality of life.
  • Research shows that working more doesn’t lead to better results, shorter hours can actually boost performance.
  • Automating leave tracking with tools like Vacation Tracker helps teams manage PTO and avoid burnout.

Everybody’s talking about how traditional 9 to 5 jobs are dying out in favor of the pros and cons of flexible working schedules. But, we cannot help but wonder: are we working more, now, with greater flexibility, or at the same eight-hour work span? We decided to cover standard working hours in Asia in this blog post. However, we cannot even start this article without looking into what our work hours looked like during the past century.

The standard 40-hour workweek is a recent thing, believe it or not. In the U.S., the law was passed in the 1940s, and before 1817, people worked up to 100 hours a week! And even though lots of things have changed for the West, the East has remained one of the most vicious working environments of the modern age. 

Working Hours in Asia: Country-by-Country Breakdown

CountryDaily HoursWeekly Hours
Singapore8 hours44 hours
Malaysia8 hours48 hours
Indonesia7–8 hours40 hours
Hong KongNo statutory limit for employees 18+No statutory limit for employees 18+
China8 hours40 hours
Japan8 hours40 hours
Thailand8 hours48 hours
South KoreaVaries53 hours (legal cap)

Standard working hours in Asia

  • Singapore: Employees are working eight hours per day and 44 hours per week.
  • Malaysia: Employees are working eight hours per day and 48 hours per week.
  • Indonesia: Employees are working 40 hours per week, with seven hours per day for a six-day workweek or eight hours per day for a five-day workweek.
  • Hong Kong: There are no statutory provisions on working hours for employees aged 18 and above.
  • China: Employees are working eight hours per day and 40 hours per week.
  • Japan: Employees are working eight hours per day and 40 hours per week.
  • Thailand: Employees are working eight hours per day and 48 hours per week.

The state with the longest working hours in Asia, South Korea, is starting to change the opinion

Standard working hours in Asia

The country with the highest number of working hours in Asia, South Korea, passed a law in July 2018. They reduced their working week from 68 hours to 53 hours to boost the productivity of their workers. Boosting productivity was not the sole reason behind this decision. The South Korean government believes a shorter workweek will increase the country’s birth rate.

The Myth of Long Hours and Productivity

Standard working hours in Asia

Working more doesn’t always equal boosted productivity. Quite the contrary. In a recent experiment, the company Perpetual Guardian gave their employees an extra day off every week, with no change in pay and employment conditions. And despite the reduced hours, employees saw an increase in productivity and satisfaction by up to 20 percent! 

Japan is another Asian country known for long working hours, however, they seem unable to cash in them. That’s why they’ve started cutting down overtime and using other tactics to increase productivity in their employees which we can see in the chart below.

Standard working hours in Asia

What Can Help: Better Time and Leave Management

We’ve learned that standard working hours in Asia are above average compared to the rest of the world and often shaped by local PTO laws and labor regulations that dictate how much rest employees are entitled to. Shorter working hours and regular vacations can result in a productivity boost. And engagement and overall satisfaction will follow.

A Leave Management Tool for Hardworking Teams

Vacation Tracker was made with one sole intention in mind. And that’s to effectively use the time we spend working and have equally spread vacations and days off to help employees stay energized and motivated.

With our leave management solution, you can request, approve and manage your PTO in just a few clicks, directly from Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google Workspace. Our tool makes it easy for users to customize their leave tracking experience. This includes creating their own locations, leave policies, leave types, and much more. In addition, users can take advantage of our online dashboard to export reports, get daily/weekly notifications, integrate with an external calendar, and much more. Sounds interesting? Try it free today! And it doesn’t cost anything to try others: sign up for a free 14-day trial and take Vacation Tracker for a spin!

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Frequently asked questions

What are the standard working hours in major Asian countries?

Standard working hours in Asia vary by country. For example, Singapore sets the workweek at 44 hours, Malaysia at 48 hours, and China and Japan at 40 hours per week. Indonesia allows either 40 hours over five or six days. Some places, like Hong Kong, do not have statutory limits for adults.

Which Asian country has the longest average working hours?

Cambodia, Myanmar, and Bangladesh consistently report the longest annual working hours in Asia, with employees working over 2,400 hours per year. South Korea previously had the highest weekly hours but reduced its legal maximum from 68 to 53 hours in 2018 to address work-life balance concerns.

How does work-life balance compare across Asia Pacific countries?

Work-life balance varies widely. Singapore averages a 42-hour workweek, while Japan’s average is closer to 31 hours per week in 2024. Countries with longer hours, like Cambodia and Myanmar, often face greater challenges with employee well-being and productivity.

Are six-day workweeks common in Asia?

Yes, six-day workweeks are still common in several Asian countries. For instance, Indonesia allows a six-day schedule with seven-hour workdays, while the 996 system in China requires employees to work 12 hours a day, six days a week. However, there is a growing trend toward five-day workweeks in urban centers. 

What is the 996 working hour system in China?

The 996 system refers to a work schedule where employees work from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, six days a week, totaling 72 hours. This practice is prevalent in some Chinese tech companies, though it has faced criticism for its impact on health and work-life balance. 

Aleksandra Cvetkovic

Marketing Manager

Aleksandra has been with the team since day one, bringing her passion for all things marketing.

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