Office Workers' Dream '4-Day Workweek' Spreads... Which Major Companies Are Implementing It?

SK Telecom headquarters located in Jung-gu, Seoul / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] The four-day workweek is spreading. In particular, even mega-corporations like SK Telecom are implementing a four-day workweek once a month, signaling the full-scale competition among companies to adopt a 'work-life balance' culture.

According to the industry on the 18th, SK Telecom will implement the 'Happy Friday' system starting this year, designating the third Friday of every month as a day off. This is a drastic change from the previously operated 'Super Friday' system, which allowed employees to leave work at 3 p.m. on the third Friday of every week.

Park Jung-ho, CEO of SK Telecom, has continuously ordered innovations in work and efficiency improvements through new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. Based on these achievements, it is interpreted that measures were taken to allow employees to have sufficient rest.

Earlier, SK Group introduced a twice-a-month four-day workweek system starting February last year for the SUPEX Council and the holding company SK Inc. It was piloted from November 2018 and officially implemented after just three months. At that time, the business community interpreted that Chairman Chey Tae-won made this decision based on his management philosophy prioritizing 'the happiness value of members.' Chairman Chey has been promoting 'member happiness' and 'work style innovation through deep change.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

With the four-day workweek spreading from SK Group to SK Telecom, the business community expects a full-fledged competition to expand the work-life balance culture.

Earlier, education company Eduwill drew attention by announcing the implementation of a four-day workweek for all departments starting this year. After significantly enhancing welfare by creating separate massage times for employees and nursing rooms for working mothers, they drastically changed working hours.

The working hours of Hunet, a lifelong education and talent development platform company, are also notable. Hunet has been implementing a 4.5-day workweek with 36 hours per week since November last year. Employees work on Friday mornings and leave early. For customer service departments where afternoon work is unavoidable, Hunet allows employees to take every other Friday off, averaging a 4.5-day workweek over two weeks.

Cho Young-tak, CEO of Hunet, expressed his aspirations when the 4.5-day system gained attention, saying, "We expect that through an autonomous and proactive culture among employees, both employees and the company can grow significantly," and added, "We want to create a good workplace and a happy management company where members are happy."

Although still unfamiliar in Korea, much more radical work styles are expected to be introduced in Europe. Sanna Marin, Finland's 34-year-old Prime Minister appointed last month, announced she would consider introducing a flexible work system based on a four-day workweek and six-hour workdays. She has advocated for reduced working hours since serving as Minister of Transport. In Finland, a five-day workweek with eight-hour workdays is common. Education Minister Li Andersson immediately welcomed Marin's proposal, increasing the possibility of institutionalization.

The EU specialized media 'New Europe' reported that in Sweden, which introduced a six-hour workday while maintaining existing wages since 2015, workers' satisfaction and work productivity improved.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.