Conglomerates raise guard against fallout of COVID-19

A Hyundai Mobis employee works from home in this Nov. 2 photo. / Courtesy of Hyundai Mobis

Silent spread leads to 2,000 new cases in a week

By Baek Byung-yeul

Major companies here are ramping up efforts to avoid any fallout from the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and minimize potential risks that could hinder their business operations.

The move comes after the government announced Sunday it will raise social distancing guidelines to Level 2 in the capital region starting today, after a surge in coronavirus patients over the past few days

The COVID-19 pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down in Korea as the number of daily new cases has continued to grow. In response, company officials said they would expand the scope of their work-from-home policies, and also fully prepare for the possible implementation of even stricter social distancing policies by the administration.

Many companies report they are trying to minimize the number of business meetings, business trips and after-work get-togethers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

On Sunday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 330 new COVID-19 cases for Saturday, raising the total here to 30,733. Since Nov. 8, daily infections have remained in triple digits, and this was the fifth consecutive day for the daily infection rate to exceed 300.

The figure eased to 271 for Sunday, but the health authorities warned a third wave of the pandemic is ongoing as it raised social distancing measures to the third-highest in its five-tier system for two weeks in the greater Seoul area.

Under Level 2 restrictions, gatherings involving 100 or more people are prohibited, while high risk facilities such as nightclubs will be ordered to close. Restaurants are allowed to serve food until 9 p.m.

Companies said they have been responding flexibly to the recent hike in infections as it has been months since they implemented various measures to minimize potential risks.

A Samsung Electronics official said the company resumed a partial remote working program last week. "The company is also encouraging employees to minimize their number of business trips. In addition, after-work get-togethers have been prohibited," the official said.

A Hyundai Motor Group official said the company's automotive manufacturing lines are currently unaffected by the virus spread as there have been no infections at its factories.

"We have seen no disruptions in our manufacturing lines so far. For office employees, we are offering work-from-home on a voluntary basis," the official said, adding that the group is thoroughly monitoring the government's announcements regarding changes in its social distancing levels.

SK Group has allowed more employees to work remotely and restricted access to its headquarter offices in Seoul. LG Group also said it has carried out tougher quarantine measures inside its office buildings and begun implementing expanded remote working measures, letting more than 30 percent of its office staff work from home.

Firms based in Pangyo, a business district comprised mostly of IT firms in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, are relatively freer in implementing work-from-home policies.

Kakao said Nov. 18 it had decided to allow every employee to work from home when the number of infections nationwide surpassed 300 for the first time since August. "To protect employees from infection and block the spread to local communities, we decided to implement a remote working policy for our 2,600 employees," the company said.

An official from a game company in Pangyo said it had not yet changed its work-from-home policies since the government raised its social distancing guidelines to Level 1.5, but it planned to expand the number of remote workers in the event social distancing Level 2 was declared.

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