A temperature screening robot in Seoul Medical Center. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans have been more or less satisfied with so-called ‘untact’ work policies that came about following the coronavirus outbreak.
However, most employers were found to shun untact work policies because they collide with the traditional way of work.
The Korean Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey of human resource managers from some 300 businesses, in which the proportion of businesses implementing untact work policies following the coronavirus reached 34.3 percent, which is four times higher than the pre-coronavirus era.
Most companies preferred to skip business trips, outside duties (93.9 percent), collective training (95.8 percent), get-togethers (97.1 percent), and regular meetings (74 percent).
Work efficiency was more or less sustainable. Only 16.4 percent of businesses thought work efficiency had dropped following the implementation of untact work policy.
A majority of 83.6 percent said work efficiency either stayed the same or improved.
At 82.9 percent, the vast majority of businesses said employees were highly satisfied with untact work policies. Only 17.1 percent said otherwise.
However, when asked about the intention to continue or introduce untact work policy, 70.8 percent of businesses said they had none. Roughly three quarters also had no intent to expand video conferences and online reporting.
Only 21.5 percent of businesses were considering the introduction of untact work policies, while only 7.7 percent said they already had such policies in place, and plan to continue with them.
As for the reason for shunning untact work policy, 62.9 percent pointed out a lack of cohesion with the traditional way of work, followed by undermining the speed of the work process (16.7 percent), and information security (9.2 percent).
In order to expand untact work policy, 51.8 percent of businesses called for an efficient reporting and instruction system, followed by educating management staff (28.1 percent) and establishing security systems (23.8 percent).
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
