Businesses wary of following POSCO's return-to-office plan
POSCO's flag hangs on the POSCO Center building in Seoul in this file photo. Courtesy of POSCO
By Park Jae-hyuk
POSCO Group became the first Korean conglomerate to scrap the work-from-home system amid the pandemic, prompting big businesses here to consider bringing their employees back to their offices.
Last week, the group sent out emails asking its white-collar employees to return to their offices at the group's buildings in Seoul and Incheon on Monday, unless they are pregnant, have underlying diseases or are awaiting COVID-19 test results.
POSCO Chemical, POSCO International and other affiliates are also set to bring back their workers.
The steelmaking group cited the government's decision to ease social distancing measures and its announcement that the country has passed the peak of the Omicron wave.
“Considering various conditions, our group's healthcare experts made the decision,” the group said.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, POSCO Group has had its office workers take turns working from home, although its blue-collar employees have continued working at its steel mills in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, and Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province.
It had temporarily reduced the number of employees working remotely following the beginning of vaccinations here in mid-2021, but the Omicron wave which started hitting Korea late last year led the company to eventually tighten its quarantine measures once again.
There exists speculation that Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG and other conglomerates will also follow POSCO Group's return-to-office policy, in order to enhance communications and prevent the possible leakage of important data.
Under the remote working system, some businesses have complained about the inefficiency of communicating online.
In addition, a Samsung Electronics employee waiting for retirement was found to have allegedly tried to steal the company's confidential data on semiconductors, by accessing electronic documents at home and photographing them on his screen with a smartphone.
However, Samsung Electronics appears to have no plan to end the remote working system.
“By improving the labor conditions through work-from-home and co-working spaces, I will enable our employees to be more immersed in their work and make achievements,” Samsung Electronics co-CEO Han Jong-hee told employees last Friday during an event at the company's Suwon headquarters in Gyeonggi Province.
Other companies have also remained cautious about ending their work-from-home systems, saying it is too early to bring their employees back to their offices at this moment.