I cover a wide range of stories about Korean society — one of the most dynamic places in the world. To me, journalism means being on the ground, uncovering untold stories and amplifying marginalized voices, especially in an era when AI is reshaping the media landscape. That’s why I’m always here to listen. Tips and stories are welcome — feel free to reach out via email. Before becoming a journalist, I traveled through 24 countries over 702 days, served two years as a military police officer in the Republic of Korea Air Force and later studied filmmaking at the Korea National University of Arts.
Koreans log fewest remote work days globally
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By Park Ung
Nam Do-hyeon, a 29-year-old manager at Beam, a Singapore-based mobility start-up in Seoul, divides his workweek between the office and home — spending three days in the office and two days working remotely.
“Working from home can disrupt your routine, so it takes more self-discipline,” he told The Korea Times. “But by cutting out the commute, I can channel that time into more meaningful work.”
However, Nam is one of the few in Korea who enjoys such flexibility.
A recent Stanford University study found that on average, Koreans work remotely for just half a day per week — the lowest rate among the 40 countries surveyed.
The research team surveyed 16,000 college graduates across 40 countries between November and February to examine post-COVID remote work trends. Respondents reported working from home an average of 1.27 days per week — similar to the figure in 2023.
According to the research, remote work is most common in English-speaking countries, where people typically work from home 1.5 to two days a week. European countries follow with an average of one to 1.5 days, while Asian countries lag behind with just 0.5 to one day.
Canada leads the pack — employees there log an average of 1.9 remote work days a week. The U.K. follows at 1.8, and the U.S. isn’t far behind at 1.6.
In Asia, Japan averages 0.7 days and China 0.6 — both still ahead of Korea, which ranks last.
This graph shows the average number of days people worked from home per week in each country. Captured from the website of Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
The researchers observed that the varying levels of remote work adoption across countries are primarily influenced by cultural factors. They noted that societal attitudes toward individualism and collectivism play a key role in how remote work is accepted.
In more individualistic societies, workers generally feel more comfortable working from home, and executives tend to exercise less control over their employees.
Cultural norms play an important role, but Korea’s industrial structure — with a large share of manufacturing jobs — is another factor that limits the feasibility of remote work, according to Kim Yoo-bin, a director at the Korea Labor Institute.
“Manufacturing, by its nature, requires workers to be physically present on site,” Kim told The Korea Times. “In countries with a higher proportion of service industries, remote work is more feasible. But in manufacturing, there are inevitable limitations to working remotely.”
According to a report by the Bank of Korea last year, the manufacturing sector accounted for 27 percent of Korea’s gross domestic product in 2020, nearly double the average of 14 percent among OECD countries.
In Korea, remote work gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among large corporations and IT firms. But as health restrictions eased and concerns over productivity grew, some companies began calling employees back to the office.
Tmap Mobility, a subsidiary of investment firm SK Square, adopted remote work and flexible hours as its standard model, but plans to gradually phase out remote work during the first half of this year.
Community platform Danggeun Market will scale back its remote work policy from two days a week to one starting in May, with plans to gradually return to a full five-day office schedule.
The marketplace platform adopted a fully remote work model during the COVID-19 pandemic and transitioned to a twice-weekly optional work-from-home system in 2023.
“We’re in a phase of rapid growth where the advantages of in-person work — such as active communication and faster decision-making — are becoming increasingly important,” the company said.