[COVID-19 Transformation] "Working from Home Works... The Era of 'Won (Remote)' Will Come"

Post-Corona, an Era of Great Transformation
<3> Remote Work Becoming a Reality

Interview - Yonggu Seo, Dean of Graduate School of Business, Sookmyung Women's University
COVID-19 Crisis as a Strategic Turning Point
Remote Work, Delayed Due to Preference for Face-to-Face Work, Now Becomes Mainstream
Most Doubts About Efficiency Resolved

Clear Distinction Needed Between Work and Rest
Possibility of Leaner Corporate Organizations Increases... Horizontal Culture Becomes a Survival Condition

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] "The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the inconvenient truth about contact. Now, for corporate survival, it is essential to establish an agile and horizontal culture suitable for remote work."

Yonggu Seo, Dean of the Graduate School of Business (MBA) at Sookmyung Women's University, defined the COVID-19 crisis as a 'strategic turning point' for remote work in our society. A strategic turning point refers to a period when a revolutionary change occurs, making it difficult for the before and after to be the same. He predicted that in the post-COVID era, "remote work, which was previously secondary, will now become primary."

He forecasted that as untact (contactless) becomes the trend, 'homeconomy', 'staycation', and other phenomena will be activated, and a 'world of distance' with remote meetings and remote work will emerge in the post-COVID era. He added, "Although untact technologies and infrastructure were already in place, inertia and Korean society's preference for face-to-face work prevented remote work from becoming widespread. However, with COVID-19 as a catalyst, remote work and remote lectures have become active, and people have realized 'it actually works'."

Dean Seo stated, "Even with remote lectures, although the first month of March was difficult, from April onwards, students' concentration during classes improved, showing significant effects," emphasizing that "the inconvenient truth about contact has been revealed." Previously, doubts about the efficiency of remote work prevented its widespread adoption, but most of these concerns have proven to be unfounded. He analyzed, "It is generally considered that habits form after about 60 days, so by now, most people have developed habits related to remote work," indicating that we have entered a certain adaptation phase.

However, he also believed that in the early post-COVID period, the current level of remote work might not be maintained immediately. Since it was forced out of necessity, it is difficult to say it has spread throughout society.

Nonetheless, having experienced the efficiency of remote work, he predicted it would not easily revert to previous practices. He mentioned that the MBA program at Sookmyung Women's University, where he serves as dean, has decided to adopt remote lectures as the basic form of instruction going forward, forecasting that more institutions will strategically choose untact methods.

Dean Seo also offered suggestions regarding confusion or side effects arising from the rapid spread of remote work. He emphasized 'self-completeness' for remote workers. Regarding concerns that the boundary between work and rest might blur or work efficiency might decline, he predicted that companies will prefer individuals with excellent self-management skills who can work well independently. For workers experiencing such confusion, he recommended clearly distinguishing between work and rest, citing the example of the late President Kim Dae-jung, who, even under house arrest, wore a suit and went to the living room to 'go to work' at 9 a.m.

He also anticipated that corporate performance indicators would increasingly operate like the Balanced Score Card evaluation, where learning and growth become key metrics. "Because employees are no longer visible to their superiors in person, aspects previously excluded from measurement will now become major indicators through regular meetings," he analyzed.

He predicted that remote work would ultimately lead to job reductions. "The fact that there is no longer a need to gather for meetings means that jobs dependent on inefficiencies like commuting will disappear," he said, expecting a decrease in transportation and logistics jobs. Additionally, as companies pursue maximum efficiency, they are likely to slim down organizations to fit the remote work era, reducing demand for office workers concentrated in remote work.

Dean Seo forecasted that the spread of remote work in the post-COVID era could be another opportunity to revitalize depressed local regions. Since it will be possible to work from anywhere, a 'multi-place life' becomes feasible. He explained, "Jobs, culture, and social capital have been concentrated in the metropolitan area, which attracted people and resources there. Now that work can be done anywhere, living patterns such as spending three months in Jeju, six months in Seoul, and three months in Gangwon are entirely possible."

He added that if local governments capitalize on this opportunity by encouraging people to develop regional memberships and strategically establish various long-term lodging and work facilities, they can attract people to live in these areas.

Finally, Professor Seo identified 'organizational culture' as both a prerequisite and outcome for the success of remote work systems. Transitioning from Korea's traditional vertical, face-to-face work system to a horizontal remote work system is both a success condition and a ripple effect of the increasing normalization of untact work. He advised that, as society gradually shifts toward a horizontal culture exemplified by companies like Kakao, "through the new change of remote work, companies must make their cultures more agile and horizontal to increase their chances of survival."

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