3800 Apply for Remote Work Due to COVID-19... Surge in Flexible Work Systems Among SMEs and Mid-sized Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Recently, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies implementing flexible work systems such as remote work has surged due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced in a press release on the 6th that "since the simplification of the indirect labor cost support procedure for flexible work systems on the 25th of last month, applications for support from SMEs and mid-sized companies have significantly increased."

The indirect labor cost support system for flexible work systems is a program that provides labor cost support based on the number of times employees use flexible work options such as staggered commuting hours, remote work, telecommuting, and selective work systems in SMEs and mid-sized companies.

The support amount is 50,000 KRW per employee for 1 to 2 uses per week, and 100,000 KRW for 3 or more uses, with support provided for up to one year. The annual limit per employee is 5.2 million KRW.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, from the implementation of the simplified support procedure guideline on the 25th of last month until the 5th of this month, 426 workplaces and 6,241 employees applied for indirect labor cost support. This is a significant increase compared to 243 workplaces and 1,710 employees who applied from January 1 to the 24th of last month.

Trends in Flexible Work Arrangement Applications

Looking at the application results by type since the 25th of last month, 3,792 employees (60.8%) applied for remote work, 2,178 employees (34.9%) for staggered commuting, 229 employees (3.7%) for selective work, and 42 employees (0.7%) for telecommuting. Notably, remote work applications have sharply increased compared to the total of 317 remote work applicants in the previous year.

By company size, applications were highest from workplaces with 100 to 299 employees at 1,795 (28.8%), followed by workplaces with 30 to 99 employees at 1,685 (27.0%). Workplaces with fewer than 10 employees accounted for 720 applications (11.5%).

By industry, manufacturing led with 2,006 applicants (32.1%), followed by information and communication at 1,393 (22.3%), and professional, scientific, and technical services at 1,034 (16.6%). By region, Seoul had the most applications with 3,909 (62.6%), followed by Gyeonggi with 1,059 (17.0%), and Busan with 240 (3.8%).

An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor stated, "Applications for indirect labor cost support for flexible work systems have significantly increased in response to the COVID-19 situation," adding, "Support eligibility is determined after reviewing the business application, and once approved, support can be retroactively applied from the application date."

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