Could a 4-day workweek become a reality?

Mar 16, 2021, 08:11 am

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Source: Getty Images Bank

AsiaToday reporter Kim Ye-seul

With the emergence of various types of working patterns due to the pandemic, the introduction of four-day workweek has become a hot topic. The debate is expected to heat up as Seoul mayoral candidates promised a compressed work schedule ahead of the April by-elections.

According to political circles on Monday, a four-day workweek has emerged as a hot-button campaign issue ahead of the Seoul mayoral election. Rep. Cho Jung-hoon, head of the minor anti-establishment political party Transition Korea, has advocated a four-day workweek while the ruling Democratic Party’s Seoul mayoral candidate Park Young-sun made a pledge to implement a 4.5-day workweek for Seoul citizens.

The discussion that started in the political community has spread throughout society. Due to the pandemic, a various kind of working patterns are spreading, such as working from home and arranging flexible work hours. The four-week workweek plan has gained popularity especially among millennials and Gen Z.

Last year, Samsung Electronics, NCSOFT and some other local companies have temporarily introduced a four-day workweek for their employees as part of quarantine efforts. The satisfaction of employees who have experienced the four-day workweek are quite high. “A lot of miscellaneous paperwork has reduced and I have been able to fully concentrate on work,” a 34-year-old office worker surnamed Park, who has been working at a large company for 7 years, said. “Most of employees are satisfied because it allows them to handle backlogs such as going to banks and government offices during weekdays.”

“There were many negative views when a five-day workweek was implemented for the first time. But later, everyone accepted it as a natural form of work,” a 33-year-old office worker surnamed Kang, who is working four days a week once or twice a month. “I feel personally that work can be all done without working five days a week. Communication between departments has become smoother, and tasks that used to take half a day can now be completed within an hour,” Kang said.

“Those companies who had implemented a four-day workweek tell me that it increases work efficiency,” Jeon Min-ki, the head of the Korea Insight Institute, said in a radio show. “Work efficiency can be improved by shortening working hours. If break time is extended, tourism will be revitalized and economic activities will also be revitalized,” Jeon said.

“When a crisis such as the pandemic occurs, companies tend to develop technologies,” said professor Kwon Soon-won of Sookmyung Women’s University. “The advancement of technology can reduce the amount of labor while maintaining productivity, and there is a room for shortening working hours.”

However, there are other voices showing concerns over the four-day workweek. “Such a plan seems like a story of others working in large companies,” said a 32-year-old worker surnamed Chae, who has been working for a small-sized business for six years. “There are still many workplaces that force you to work on weekends.”

DP lawmaker Woo Sang-ho agreed the topic was worth discussing but said such a plan would not be viable in real life at this moment.

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