Work from home likely to continue: survey

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By Lee Hyo-jin

As working from home is becoming increasingly common amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, many people question what this means for the future of the workplace. The shift to remote work is likely to continue in Korea even after the pandemic ends, according to a recent survey, Thursday.

A survey conducted by the Korea Employers Federation (KEF) among the top 100 firms in terms of domestic sales showed that they have adapted well to the new scheme triggered by the pandemic, and more than half plan to expand it even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

The data was collected through phone calls with company representatives between Sept. 7 and 8, when Seoul and its surrounding area was under level 2.5 social distancing measures, and the rest of the country under level 2.

Among the respondents, 88 percent said they had applied a full or partial work-from-home scheme. Two percent of respondents said they had plans to adopt the system in the near future. Another 8 percent did not have staff working remotely and had no plans to implement the option in the future.

The most popular form of remote working, chosen by 44 percent of firms, was to divide employees into groups who take turns to come into the office in order to minimize physical contact. Over 16 percent had made all but essential employees work from home.

The working environment at home compared to the office was rated highly as well. When HR departments were asked to assess on a scale of 1 to 100 the productivity level of employees when working remotely compared with their productivity when working at the office, 46 percent gave them a score of more than 90 in favor of remote work. Another 25 percent gave above 80 points, and 17 percent marked above 70.

Regarding the future of remote work, more than half of the firms ― 53 percent ― predicted that it will be expanded after the pandemic ends. Some 33 percent stated they expect that it will go back to pre-pandemic levels.

The KEF noted that the current work-from-home system is strictly limited to white collar workers.

As working from home is expected to continue in the future, the Ministry of Labor issued a manual on Wednesday about handling labor-management conflicts when employees are working remotely. The manual includes detailed guidelines for both employees and management.

For example, employees who are working from home are only allowed to leave their house during working hours after getting permission from their employer. Also, injuries occurring at home during working hours fall under the category of workplace accidents.