This file photo taken on Oct. 14, 2020, shows pedestrians in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — About 80 percent of salaried workers in South Korea support the expansion of flexible working hours, based on the recognition that the correlation between working hours and work performance is low, the country’s leading business lobby group said Wednesday.
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) recently conducted a survey of 300 salaried employees, 81.3 percent of whom said that the scope of flexible working hour programs should be expanded.
In response to a question asking about the correlation between working hours and work performance, 54.4 percent said there was no positive correlation between the two, while 45.6 percent said otherwise.
The KCCI pointed out that given the low correlation between working hours and work performance, the strict management of working hours could naturally lead to the occurrence of inefficiencies.
In fact, 62 percent of salaried workers said that they had experienced inconvenience due to strict working hour policies.
As for a question asking how flexible working hour programs should be expanded, 76.3 percent said that in addition to R&D jobs, variations on flextime work systems should also be expanded.
Under a suggested flextime arrangement, employees can work longer than statutory working hours during one week and take more time off in the next week up to the number of hours they worked as overtime in the previous week.
Another 87.5 percent of the respondents also supported the introduction of a white-collar exemption system that does not apply a strict working hour schedule to high-income managers, since it is seen as being unnecessary to manage their working hours.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
