Working for the right balance

Long hours and limited options for employees can hit productivity and increase costs for companies

The death of Pradnya Paramita in Jakarta last December kicked off a debate about work hours in Asia. The 27-year-old copywriter collapsed and died after allegedly working for 30 consecutive hours.

In a report last August, job-listing website eFinancialCareers found more than two-thirds of 1,738 of Singapore's finance and banking professionals surveyed worked weekends, and about 43 percent remained contactable for work day and night.