Employees in Hong Kong and Seoul face similar challenges when it comes to work-life balance, according to non-profit organisation Community Business.

In both cities, more than three-quarters of employees face some kind of negative impact because of poor work-life balance. About three out of 10 respondents would consider leaving their job for a better balance.

Employees in Seoul work an average of 50.8 hours per week, more than the 48.4 hours in

Hong Kong. Koreans are more concerned about financial well-being (Hong Kong 13.8 per cent, Seoul 20.8 per cent) and job security (Hong Kong 8.4 per cent, Seoul 17.2 per cent). 

Community Business worked with KAIST Business School in Seoul to carry out the research and canvassed 1,000 full-time workers. 

Work link to child obesity  

The growing number of full-time working mothers in the past few decades could be a factor contributing to the rise in childhood obesity, new research hints. A study of more than 8,500 British adults, followed since their birth in 1958, found that the participants' young children were 50 per cent more likely to be overweight or obese than they themselves had been back in the 1960s.

Researchers from the University College of London found that mothers' full-time employment, which was more common in the younger generation, appeared to be associated with the trend.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, do not prove the link, but children of full-time working mothers may have fewer family meals or less healthy diets in general, according to researchers. 

Other factors include the explosion in sugary junk food on the market and food advertising aimed at children.

The researchers focused on 8,552 participants who, in 1991, had a total of 1,889 children between the ages of four and nine. They found that both parents' weight and mothers' employment status were associated with the risk of their children being overweight. Reuters 

Twittering classes  

More Australian companies are discovering the power of Twitter as a customer communication tool, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

This is because Twitter takes communication to the personal level and zeroes in on exactly what makes customers tick.

Twitter is a way of communicating to the world of Twitter users at large or one on one with a single proviso - that you use "tweets" of 140 characters or less. 

Retailing giant Harvey Norman has jumped aboard the Twitter bandwagon by establishing its own social media unit. National Australia Bank also finds Twitter a great way to communicate.