[Exclusive] LG Electronics Implements Over 30% Remote Work for All Employees

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] LG Electronics has decided to significantly expand remote work in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

On the 27th, LG Electronics announced that it will implement remote work for more than 30% of all employees due to the spread of COVID-19.

Until now, LG Electronics had only allowed remote work in special cases such as pregnant employees, those needing childcare, or employees returning from overseas business trips, but recently decided to expand remote work as COVID-19 rapidly spreads.

The company explained that while there may be some differences depending on each organization’s situation, overall remote work will be expanded to more than 30% to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to take care of employees’ health.

As COVID-19 spreads, the government is considering raising social distancing to level 3. At level 3 social distancing, the government recommends companies to have all employees work remotely except for essential personnel. Accordingly, most large companies are internally reviewing plans for all employees except essential personnel to work remotely if level 3 is raised.

However, some companies are participating in preventing the spread of infectious diseases by expanding remote work before the level 3 escalation.

On the same day, Samsung Electronics also decided to pilot remote work for set division employees starting from the 1st of next month and is currently accepting applicants.

Samsung Electronics had previously considered introducing remote work in some business units such as Consumer Electronics (CE) in the first half of this year but withdrew due to low demand; this is the first time the company has decided to implement remote work at the company-wide level since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Until now, Samsung Electronics only allowed remote work or family care leave for high-risk employees such as pregnant women or those with underlying conditions. With this measure, starting next month, employees in CE, IT & Mobile (IM), Video Display (VD) business units, excluding semiconductor which operates 24/7 factories, as well as employees in research and development (R&D) units such as Samsung Research, will also be able to work remotely.

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