Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Banks pursue better work-life balance
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
Korea's major banks are enjoying a better “work-life balance” following the implementation of the shorter workweek mandate which reduced the working hours to 52 per week from 68.
Woori Bank workers are able to enjoy every Wednesday to their fullest as the firm designated the third day of the week as “Family Day,” whereby managerial figures are to refrain from giving orders between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., a few hours before workers go home.
No after-work get-togethers, which often continue late into night, are planned that day.
Its “PC Off” system allows workers to go home without the pressure to sit by the desk doing nothing long after they finish their daily tasks.
“The computers are automatically turned off at 7 p.m., and workers are under less pressure to do a night shift, simply because they can't. There is nothing much to do when computers are turned off. The system has helped workers leave work as planned and get used to not feeling guilty about it,” a Woori Bank official said.
Workers can choose “flexible working hours” by deciding when to come in and leave work. They can choose to come in as late as 10 a.m. in which case they have to go home one hour late.
Shinhan Bank's “PC Off” program also enables workers to leave early, helping them with effective time management.
“Honestly, it's not like all workers leave at 5 p.m. sharp. But the system does encourage workers to leave work more freely unless their tasks on a particular day require them to work afterhours,” a Shinhan Bank official said.
While there are some lingering old “practices” whereby workers feel guilty for leaving earlier than their bosses, more workers than before are free to leave and not look back, he added.
“The reduced workweek does not apply to managerial figures, so many lower-ranking employees still somehow feel a bit uncomfortable going home knowing their boss is still working. But when they come to think of it, it means they have to do the same when they get promoted. So they think it's nothing to feel guilty about,” he said.
Meanwhile, the greater emphasis on “after-hours rest” comes amid a change in life priorities for the new generation.
According to a survey conducted by recruitment site Incruit, “work-life balance” was the second most prioritized value in selecting a job or a company for jobseekers.
In the survey of 1,574 jobseekers, 19 percent said salary was the most important factor in determining which job to pursue, followed closely by those who said “work-life-balance” (16 percent).
A generous employee benefit package was the third most prioritized factor (14 percent), followed by company vision, overall professional prospects and individual capability building (12 percent), job security (11 percent) and job aptitude (11 percent).
“In the survey conducted 10 years ago, the second most appreciated value was a sense of belonging and pride to be a member of a certain company,” the survey author said.
“This oftentimes has resulted in a rather perpetuated notion whereby prioritizing a top-down command structure with frequent overtime taken for granted, so much so that workers who called for the right to have a personal life outside work were considered incompetent. This has certainly changed over the past few years.”