"Is It Enough If Only We Work From Home?" Raised Voice of Park Jeong-ho, SK Telecom CEO

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] "Is it enough if only we work from home?" Park Jung-ho, CEO of SK Telecom, has been raising his voice day after day during video executive meetings held after the COVID-19 outbreak. This move reflects his concern for the poor working conditions of partner companies and distribution network employees, such as call centers and network staff, unlike SK Telecom employees who are working from home ahead of others.

At frontline agencies and collective shopping malls, where visitors have stopped coming due to COVID-19, they have to endure business hours of up to 14 hours a day, far from practicing 'social distancing.' Meanwhile, illegal subsidies are rampant, raising concerns about market distortion. CEO Park is urging measures such as temporarily advancing the closing time of distribution network computer operations to improve the working environment of partner companies while easing illegal subsidies.

Park Jung-ho, President of SK Telecom, is speaking about the world's first commercialization of 5GX at the '5GX Service Launch Show' held in the lobby of SKT Tower, Euljiro, Jung-gu, Seoul on April 3 last year. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

◆"What about call centers..." Criticism followed by spread= According to the related industry on the 19th, Park, who made the first company-wide work-from-home decision in the industry last month, has repeatedly pointed out concerns about the spread of COVID-19 centered on partner companies and distribution networks at recent executive meetings. This is because, considering the social responsibility of large corporations and the overall market impact, the response should not end with only SK Telecom headquarters employees working from home. In a national disaster situation, if there is a disruption in the key infrastructure of communication and broadcasting networks, the damage could be even greater.

Just as CEO Park pointed out, "What about call centers? How prepared are they for (work-from-home)?" the first large-scale cluster infection case in the metropolitan area, the Guro call center incident, occurred. At that time, SK Telecom was in the process of building a system for call center work-from-home. Park reportedly expressed regret over the proactive response, calling it a "worrisome part." He also instructed to prepare support measures for distribution networks such as agencies as soon as possible, saying, "Is it enough if only we work from home?"

The reason Park raises his voice day after day is his judgment that the working conditions of distribution networks and partner companies are poor and that they could become COVID-19 spread points at any time. For network partner companies, face-to-face work such as new installations has sharply decreased recently, naturally enabling social distancing, but the situation is not favorable at frontline sales locations. In collective shopping malls like Technomart, stores are densely packed, making the competition for space even fiercer.

A distribution network official complained, "We work an average of 14 hours a day wearing masks in a narrow space," adding, "We endure until closing time without a single customer." On top of this, illegal subsidies have recently been pouring in online and in some stores during evening hours, avoiding enforcement by the Korea Communications Commission.

◆CEOs of the three companies propose shortening distribution network computer operation hours= Along with CEO Park, KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo and LG Uplus Vice Chairman Ha Hyun-hoe, the top executives of the three telecommunications companies, conveyed their stance at a video meeting with Minister Choi Ki-young of the Ministry of Science and ICT earlier this month that measures should be prepared to allow flexible working hours for distribution network employees.

A representative proposal is to shorten the computer operation hours of the distribution network. Currently, new contracts and device changes operate until 10 p.m., and number portability until 8 p.m., but they suggest advancing these by 1 to 2 hours temporarily. A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "All three telecom companies agreed on the necessity," adding, "This could serve as a testbed not only for COVID-19 response at the distribution network level but also for improving working conditions such as the upcoming 52-hour workweek system."

However, opinions on the ground are divided. While there is clear support mainly from agencies, some collective shopping malls and sales points are opposing, saying it is a matter directly related to their livelihood and premature.

On the 12th, Korea Communications Commission Chairman Han Sang-hyuk met with sales employees at Gangbyeon Technomart to discuss related matters but failed to reach any conclusion. An industry official said, "Shortening the distribution network computer operation hours can prevent overheated competition in the telecom market and improve the working environment of related employees, so the government should seriously and actively consider it."

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