Finance sector may become first to implement Lee’s 4.5-day workweek pledge

Salaried workers are out for lunch in Seoul's financial district of Yeouido in this 2022 file photo. Yonhap

Financial services workers are pushing to adopt a 4.5-day workweek as pledged by President Lee Jae-myung in a bid for a better work-life balance, according to industry officials, Monday.

If implemented, the finance sector will be the first industry in Korea where salaried workers will work fewer than five days a week, a norm for full-time jobs over the years.

Comprised of more than 100,000 workers from banking, credit card and other financial firms, the Korea Financial Industry Union (KFIU) said it is currently in talks with management over key labor issues for 2026.

“And we want to newly address a possible 4.5-day workweek on the agenda list for negotiations, in addition to wage, employment benefit and welfare,” the union said.

It noted that it has promoted a four-day workweek since 2019, and identified a 4.5-day workweek as “a transitional step to reach the central objective.”

It said Lee “brings further momentum for us to fulfill the goal,” thanks to the newly-elected president advocating for a 4.5-day workweek and gradually shifting to a four-day workweek.

Lee’s pledge comes as Koreans’ working hours still remain significantly longer than the OECD average, despite yearslong efforts to curb overwork.

OECD data shows that Koreans worked 1,874 hours annually as of 2023, compared to the OECD average of 1,742 hours.

Lee wants to cut the annual working hours below the OECD average by the end of his five-year presidency in 2030.

The discussion for a four-day workweek has been gaining ground in advanced economies, after multiple surveys showed that a five-day workweek does not necessarily ensure higher productivity.

For Korea, long working hours have been associated with the low birthrate and other demographic changes that pose a threat to country’s economic growth in the long term.

However, employers in general have been against reducing working hours, especially in manufacturing, construction and other labor-intense industries.

The KFIU argued that “productivity is not directly influenced by shorter working hours in the finance sector.”

The union also highlighted that the finance industry was the first in the country to adopt a five-day workweek in 2002, even before the National Assembly approved the revised labor law for a five-day workweek in 2003.

“We have a history of pioneering reform on working hours, and we’ll certainly make more history,” the union said. “We’ll see how the government and the National Assembly make progress in materializing a 4.5-day workweek.”