This move reflects a growing trend among businesses to shorten working hours or offer flexible schedules, improving employee quality of life and ultimately boosting productivity and company loyalty. (Image courtesy of Pixabay)
SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — With companies in Europe, the United States, and Japan increasingly adopting a four-day workweek, South Korean companies are following suit, with POSCO leading the way as the first in the steel industry to implement a biweekly four-day workweek.
This move reflects a growing trend among businesses to shorten working hours or offer flexible schedules, improving employee quality of life and ultimately boosting productivity and company loyalty.
On January 19, industry sources reported that starting from January 22, POSCO will introduce a biweekly four-day workweek flexible working hours system for its 10,000 on-site employees.
This system allows employees to work five days in the first week and four days in the second week of a biweekly period, ensuring an average of 40 hours per week. The first biweekly Friday off will be on February 2.
In 2018, POSCO introduced a selective working hours system, allowing employees to set their own most efficient working hours. The new biweekly system further eliminates the mandatory four hours of work every second Friday, allowing employees to take Fridays off every other week.
This arrangement enables employees to enjoy extended weekends every two weeks, potentially using this time for activities like traveling.
Other major corporations in South Korea have also adopted similar partial four-day workweek systems. For example, Samsung Electronics introduced a ‘monthly day off’ system last June, allowing employees who meet monthly required working hours to take a day off on a Friday each month.
SK Group has sequentially introduced a four-day workweek system at major affiliates since 2019, including SK Telecom, SK Inc., SK Hynix, and SK Square, offering one to two Fridays off per month.
LG Group, while not officially adopting a four-day workweek, operates a flexible working hours system at the discretion of department heads. Employees can adjust their workdays as long as they complete 40 hours per week, effectively making a four-day workweek possible in practice.
In the construction industry, efforts to reduce working hours or make them more flexible are also underway. POSCO E&C has been implementing a system where employees work an extra 30 minutes from Monday to Thursday and leave two hours early on Fridays.
This arrangement enables employees to enjoy extended weekends every two weeks, potentially using this time for activities like traveling. (Yonhap)
SK Ecoplant has been allowing employees to leave at 4 p.m. every Friday since the COVID-19 pandemic, and Hyundai Engineering operates a flexible working hours system requiring only core working hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
However, opinions differ by industry, with some considering a four-day workweek premature due to the nature of their work. This sentiment is particularly noticeable in the automotive and shipbuilding sectors in South Korea.
While Hyundai Motor’s new union has proposed a four-day workweek, no significant progress has been made due to the need for labor-management consultations. Major shipbuilding companies are not currently considering introducing a four-day workweek.
An industry insider noted that POSCO’s move to a biweekly four-day workweek is exceptional and that would not easy for other domestic manufacturing companies to adopt such a system.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
