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Night working

By The Economist
From The Economist
Published: October 05, 2012

Overnight working makes a comeback at Western carmakers.

Sep 15th 2012 | from the print edition

FOR decades, workers in rich countries have fretted about competition from Asians prepared to work ceaselessly for a pittance. But this week a South Korean carmaker, Kia, agreed not just to boost its workers’ pay but to get rid of night shifts, as the metal workers’ union has long demanded. The country’s largest carmaker, Hyundai, agreed to do the same last month.

The abolition of overnight working in South Korean plants comes just as the opposite is happening in Europe and North America. In August Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced the return of night shifts at its plant near Liverpool, to help it cope with strong demand for its luxurious Evoque model. The big three American carmakers, having shut surplus factories as part of the government bail-out during the financial crisis, are enjoying a sharp rebound in sales, and are increasingly working round the clock.

Ron Harbour, a motor-industry expert at Oliver Wyman, a consultancy, says that according to his long-running surveys, only 10-15% of North American car-assembly plants have historically run night shifts, a figure which fell to 9% in 2009—but now 40% are doing so. Even Hyundai and Kia have introduced overnight working at their American plants, even as they are set to end them, supposedly for ever, back home.

Although some of Europe’s biggest carmakers are in crisis, others such as BMW and JLR are doing well, so the proportion of assembly plants running overnight, having slipped from around 50% historically to 29% in 2006, has now risen to 35%, reckons Mr Harbour. Surveys by Eurofound, an EU agency that studies work and living standards, show that across all types of employment night working has steadily risen in Germany, has bottomed out and begun to rise in Britain, but has fallen in France, Spain and Italy (see chart).

Round-the-clock working makes most sense in industries like carmaking that have lots of expensive machines and relatively few people. Andrew Bergbaum of AlixPartners, another consultancy, says that in many rich, highly unionised countries, workers regard night shifts as a good thing, since they provide jobs. Sometimes the government encourages them: in Germany, night workers’ shift premiums are tax-free.

Employees in rich countries accept that night working is better than not working. South Korea’s car workers feel secure enough in their jobs to insist on its abolition. Not so long ago their country was seen as one of those tirelessly hardworking emerging markets to be feared. Now it has got rich, its workers want not only more money but easier hours. How long before they start to worry about being undercut by those fearsomely industrious Brits and Americans?

from the print edition | Business

歐美車廠重新流行上夜班

2012-09-19 天下雜誌 506期 作者：經濟學人

南韓汽車廠決定取消夜班制，歐美車廠卻剛好相反，紛紛恢復大夜班。富起來的南韓，與失業潮下的西方，形成了耐人尋味的對照。

過去幾十年，工業國家的勞工看到亞洲人為了賺取微薄薪資，日以繼夜工作，愈來愈擔心飯碗會被這些拚命三郎給搶走。

但九月中旬，南韓起亞汽車（Kia）和工會達成了協議，不只要提高工資，還將取消夜班制。而且，現代汽車（Hyundai）也已經在上個月，通過相同的勞資協議。

耐人尋味的是，南韓汽車廠決定取消夜班，歐美等地卻剛好相反。

八月，英國豪華車廠捷豹路虎（Jaguar Land Rover）宣布，為了應付市場對新車Evoque的強勁需求，利物浦附近的工廠將重新恢復夜班制。

而曾經在金融海嘯時，被迫關廠的美國三大車商，近來業績強勁反彈，二十四小時趕工生產的情況，也愈來愈常見。

奧緯（Oliver Wyman）顧問公司汽車產業專家哈柏指出，北美地區原本只有一○％到一五％的汽車裝配廠設有夜班制，現在增加到了四○％。就連現代、起亞的美國工廠也改成了三班制，二十四小時運轉。

總比沒有工作來得好

在歐洲，儘管有些車廠傳出經營危機，但寶馬（ＢＭＷ）和捷豹路虎等業者都創下了亮麗的營收。因此，汽車業實施夜班的比重，已從○六年的二九％，回升至三五％。

 歐盟組織「歐洲提升生活與工作品質基金會」（Eurofound）的調查顯示，德國的夜班工作比重正穩定增加；英國的比重在觸底之後，開始回升。但在法國、西班牙和義大利，夜班的比重則持續下降中。

汽車製造之類的產業，因為使用大量昂貴機械和少量人力，讓工廠二十四小時全天運轉，最為合理。

AlixPartners顧問公司的包格邦指出，在高度工會化的歐美國家，勞工把夜班當成好差事。有些政府甚至也會鼓勵，例如在德國，夜班工人的津貼就享有免稅。更重要的是，對工業國勞工來說，失業潮下，夜間工作，總比沒有工作來得好。

風水輪流轉。不久前，南韓還是西方人眼裡，賣命工作的新興國家之一。如今，這個新興小國富起來了，它的勞工不但想加薪，也要求工時正常化。還要再過多久，才會輪到他們開始擔心，被賣命工作的英國、美國人搶走飯碗？（吳怡靜譯）