Companies Expanding Adoption of 'Workation'... 87% of Office Workers "Satisfied"

A New Work Culture Combining Work and Vacation
Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Surveys 506 Office Workers via "Sofl"
86.6% Satisfied... "Psychological Recovery" Cited as a Benefit

Eight out of ten office workers who experienced "workation," a new work culture that combines work and vacation, reported being satisfied.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced on October 9 that, according to a survey of 506 office workers conducted through the business communication platform "Sofl," 86.8% of respondents with workation experience said they were satisfied.

Those who had participated in workation cited psychological recovery (68.7%, multiple responses allowed) and improved work concentration (31.7%) as work-related benefits, along with satisfaction from visiting different regions and local consumption experiences (22.2%).

In addition, 85% of all respondents expressed their intention to participate in the future, mentioning improvements in work-life balance (50.8%, multiple responses allowed), enhanced employee welfare and rest (48.8%), increased work efficiency (44.7%), and revitalization of local consumption and the economy (24.1%) as expected benefits.

Recently, many companies have been adopting workation, drawing increasing attention. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, about 1,000 companies participated in workation last year, and the trend is expanding. HD Hyundai introduced workation in 2023, and due to high employee satisfaction, is considering expanding the program. The mid-sized company HLB plans to expand its smart work (remote work) system to include workation as a pilot program starting in the fourth quarter.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry will also introduce workation from the fourth quarter. In particular, the organization plans to promote regional economic revitalization and fulfill corporate social responsibility by encouraging stays in areas with declining populations.

To promote the spread of workation, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been operating a "workation support program" for member companies of chambers of commerce across the country since last month, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Korea Tourism Organization.

Cho Youngjun, Head of the Center for Sustainable Management at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, "The workation support program is a collaborative model that can simultaneously drive innovation in work practices and revitalize local consumption," adding, "We plan to support the expansion of workation to more companies in the future."