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| A quiet square in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province is seen in this Aug. 20 photo. Despite the large number of surrounding IT firms, the streets are almost empty at lunchtime as companies are increasingly adopting work-from-home policies due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases. / Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
While chances are increasing that the country will adopt Level 3 social distancing measures due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, conglomerates fear that their business operations could be negatively impacted by the implementation of stricter measures, industry officials said Tuesday.
They said Level 3 social distancing measures could deal a harder blow to companies that mainly generate profits from manufacturing, as the stricter measures could delay their production schedule, which will consequently cause setbacks in exports.
On Aug. 19, the government announced Level 2 social distancing measures for the greater Seoul area would be adopted due to the rising number of infections. The measure was extended nationwide starting Aug. 23. However, the health authorities have warned that Korea may have to implement the highest level of social distancing ― Level 3 ― if the rate of transmission does not slow down.
If the level is raised, negative impacts on the economy will be inevitable because gatherings of 10 or more people will be banned and private companies advised to have their employees work from home.
"Since the social distancing measures were adopted early this year, we've been letting some employees work from home. If the government raises the measures to Level 3, more employees will start to work remotely," an official in the car industry said.
"We are carefully monitoring the government's announcements because there could be changes affecting our business operations especially on manufacturing lines."
He noted its product manufacturing schedule has not been disrupted by the government's Level 2 social distancing measures.
Another official in the secondary battery industry said the company is not experiencing any problems with production.
"We've been strictly following the government's infection control rules in our workplaces, but when it comes to Level 3 measures, things will be even harder than this," the official said. "The best thing we can do is to abide by the rules and have a contingency plan ready in preparation for stricter lockdown measures."
According to Lee Suk-geun, a business school professor at Sogang University, large companies will be fully capable of embracing the stricter containment measures though it will be unavoidable for them to see a negative impact from the Level 3 policy.
"Of course, there will be a negative impact on our economy if the level is raised. However, executives of conglomerates I've met said they have already prepared contingency plans for possible hikes in COVID-19 cases," Lee said.
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