Bhutan is known for prizing happiness. Its people also work longer than any other country.

• Bhutanese workers look nan world's longest workweek, averaging 54.4 hours.
• Overwork is wide successful nan Himalayan country, affecting 61% of its population.
• A Bhutanese edifice worker told BI she regularly useful 112 hours a week but has gotten utilized to it.

The picturesque Kingdom of Bhutan, nestled betwixt China and India, is wide known for its unsocial attack to economical improvement — prioritizing its Gross National Happiness complete GDP.

In practice, though, galore Bhutanese workers person small clip near for nan pursuit of happiness. The mini state tops nan ranking for nan mean number of hours worked successful a week.

According to nan International Labour Organization, Bhutanese labor activity an mean of 54.4 hours a week, acold exceeding nan 38-hour mean successful nan US.

Bhutan besides has nan world's largest stock of employed group moving much than 48 hours a week, nan information said — nan level nan World Bank considers overwork.

That covers 61% of Bhutan's workforce, nan ILO said, compared to 13% successful nan US.

Long hours, small rest

It mightiness travel arsenic a astonishment — nan mini Buddhist kingdom is often viewed arsenic a tranquil paradise of mountains and temples.

Bhutanese workers challenged that impression, telling Business Insider that they consciousness compelled to walk astir of their waking hours connected nan job.

According to nan World Bank's report connected Bhutan's labor market, published earlier this year, overwork is peculiarly prevalent successful nan country's backstage sector, particularly successful family businesses, construction, transportation, and hospitality.

A mates of hours into moving overtime, 22-year-old Ten Choezim joined a video telephone from nan room of nan edifice wherever she useful successful Thimphu, nan capital.

Choezim and different workers successful this article gave their existent names but asked that their workplaces not beryllium identified for fearfulness of retaliation.

She told Business Insider that moving beyond her contracted 12-hour displacement is normal for her. She often hits 16-hour days and regularly clocks successful a 112-hour week, she said.

Once, she said, she worked a 16-hour displacement shape for 3 weeks without a time off.

"I had aches, backmost pain, my legs were sore," she said. "Mentally, I couldn't speak well."

Though she often feels exhausted by her work, Choezim saw fewer alternatives.

"After immoderate time, I sewage utilized to it," she said, noting that she wouldn't beryllium capable to afford to unrecorded there if she worked immoderate little aliases near her job.

Many Bhutanese are leaving nan country

Although Choezim said she enjoys surviving successful Bhutan, her intense workload has made her see leaving for amended salary and moving conditions.

"Our state is serene and all, but erstwhile it comes to work, it is heavy," she said.

Her sisters person already joined nan exodus of young Bhutanese, moving to Australia. She said she feels obliged to stay to attraction for their parents.

In his State of nan Nation reside successful July, Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said that astir 64,000 group — astir 9% of nan country's organization — person migrated, chiefly to Australia.

He described it arsenic an "unprecedented existential crisis" that could inhibit nan country's development.

Kalyani Honrao, an Asia expert for nan Economist Intelligence Unit, told Business Insider that Bhutan is caught successful a vicious cycle.

She said nan wide departure of skilled workers created to a "brain drain," leaving employers incapable to capable skilled vacancies.

As a result, she said, nan load connected those who stay increases, starring to them doing nan "heavy lifting."

Meanwhile, according to Honrao, location is simply a immense proviso of unskilled and semi-skilled jobs, which makes workers easy replaceable. "People effort to do their champion to enactment employed and judge overwork arsenic normal," she said.

'It's conscionable capable to prolong maine and my family'

According to nan World Bank, nan main logic fixed for overwork successful Bhutan is that nan occupation requires it. The 2nd biggest logic is that workers request much money.

For Namgyal Dorji Wangchuk, 43, some apply.

He told BI he useful up to 90 hours a week, including unpaid overtime, arsenic a income and trading master astatine a hotel.

To supplement his income, he occasionally takes other hours arsenic a freelance consultant.

His edifice occupation requires him to activity six days a week, often pinch late-night shifts. It brings successful astir $361 a month.

"It is conscionable capable to prolong maine and my family," he said. It covers rent, bills, and immoderate costs associated pinch raising 2 teen daughters. He said he has little, if anything, near to save.

As a parent, he said, balancing his demanding activity schedule pinch family life is simply a changeless challenge.

Most days, he's location excessively precocious to spot his children earlier they autumn asleep. "So, conscionable erstwhile a week I get a bully clip pinch my family," he said. "Otherwise, mostly, I americium mostly working."

The agelong hours often time off him feeling exhausted and irritable, but he said they are basal to supply for his kids.

The reality of moving successful Bhutan

Bhutan's innovative Gross National Happiness index, introduced successful nan 1970s and enshrined arsenic a nationalist extremity successful nan constitution, intends to return a holistic position of development.

It values nan population's well-being and happiness alongside, aliases moreover above, accepted economical indicators.

In an interview pinch nan Spanish newspaper El País this month, Prime Minister Tobgay said nan model takes into relationship measures for illustration really nan organization uses their time, which he said is important to "find retired whether it's balanced, if you're sleeping enough, really you negociate work-life balance, etc."

Meanwhile, Bhutanese employment laws purpose to codify these occupational standards by establishing an eight-hour workday, mandating rest breaks, and entitling workers to overtime pay astatine a complaint adjacent to aliases higher than their regular wages.

But Honrao of nan Economist Intelligence Unit said these labour laws are seldom enforced, and semi-skilled and unskilled workers thin to put up pinch violations for fearfulness of losing their jobs.

Bhutan's Department of Labour did not respond to repeated requests for remark from Business Insider.

'A occupation is simply a job'

Bikash Sharma, 46, is simply a supervisor astatine a institution that exports building materials near nan Bhutan-India border.

He told BI he usually useful 12-hour days, six days a week, but is only paid for an eight-hour day.

"It's not adjacent enough, but what to do?" he said. "A occupation is simply a job, and you can't conscionable get different occupation very easily."

He added: "It's very difficult, but we person to provender ourselves and our family."

Sharma said that sometimes he is truthful exhausted from activity that he conscionable wants to "run distant location and hide."

However, contempt these fantasies of escaping, he has nary volition of leaving Bhutan.

He said nan kingdom's low crime rates, absence of war, tranquility, and nan comfortableness of being pinch his family surpass different considerations.

Instead, Sharma is trying to clasp Bhutan's guiding accuracy — uncovering greater worth successful sources of joyousness different than nan size of his slope balance.

"We are not very rich, " he said, but "we are happy."

He added, "I do wish my modular of surviving were conscionable a small spot better."