Firms rush to embrace shorter workweek

By Lee Kyung-min

Major business conglomerates in Korea are rushing to embrace a shorter workweek, according to market watchers, Wednesday.

The move is in line with the global trend in the U.S. and Europe where countries are seeking to introduce a four-day workweek. Few associate spending longer hours at their office with higher productivity. Some say making employees take a Friday off every month or every other week is to have them finish work before that day comes, and not so much about reducing the sheer workload itself.

Samsung Electronics implemented a shorter workweek last month, allowing its 120,000 full-time workers to have a four-day workweek once a month. Employees take every fourth Friday off, coinciding with the issuance of their monthly paychecks. Excluded are production workers on 12-hour shifts, since manufacturing facilities must remain in operation around the clock.

The shorter workweek is part of the final terms agreed upon during management-labor talks in April.

SK Telecom already implemented a shorter workweek since 2020 and SK hynix has a similar program. Almost all SK hynix employees do not work on the second Friday of every month.

Kakao Games employees take every other Friday off.

In April, POSCO Future M implemented a flexible work hour whereby employees can leave work as early as four hours before their shift ends Friday, provided that they finish their work.

But there are exceptions.

Kakao recently scrapped the so-called “Nolgeum” program, whereby employees were able to take every other Friday off. The program was introduced less than a year ago.

An industry official said employees the idea of spending less time at the office was gradually accepted during the pandemic.

“Koreans do tend to think it is important to come in for work, and spending longer hours in the office is somehow associated with an employee being hard-working, which more often has nothing to do with their individual efficiency or productivity,” he said.

“Nowadays not as many people think the work-from-home system is that bad of an idea since they are more used to it than they were at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, an increasing number of young workers are placing greater emphasis on work-life balance compared to their senior counterparts.

Data from Deloitte Group released in May showed that younger employees' work-life balance satisfaction increased in the years of the pandemic, mostly due to remote work.

In a survey of 20,000 young people in 44 countries, about a third of the respondents said the most desirable quality of competent employees is the ability to strike a balance between work and their private life.