(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — LG Electronics Inc., a South Korean tech giant, said Friday that it has begun a pilot program to reduce weekly working hours to 52 in some of its business divisions.
The company said the pilot program began on Thursday in some of its home entertainment divisions and that there are plans to expand the program.
LG Electronics is the latest South Korean company that has tinkered with a pilot program of slashing work hours.
The move comes as many young South Koreans are seeking to strike a balance between work and life.
Shinsegae Group, the South Korean retail giant that operates Shinsegae department store and E-Mart hypermarket chains, adopted a 35-hour workweek last month to help its workers utilize their time to work more effectively.
The Korea Economic Research Institute said in December that the 52 weekly working hours will cost businesses 12.3 trillion won (US$11.3 billion) every year.
In 2015, South Korean workers put in an average 2,113 hours a year at work, the second highest among all member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and 347 hours more than the OECD average of 1,766 hours, according to data.
(Yonhap)
