Kyunghyong "After COVID-19, 88.4% of Top 100 Revenue Companies Implement 'Remote Work'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) conducted a survey on the "Work-from-Home Status of the Top 100 Companies by Sales Due to Social Distancing," revealing that 88.4% of respondent companies are implementing work-from-home (for office workers). Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), work-from-home has been spreading throughout the industry. Additionally, more than half of the responding organizations answered that work-from-home will become more active, indicating that preparing for changes in work styles will be a key challenge.

KEF announced on the 13th that 88.4% of respondent companies were "currently implementing work-from-home" for office workers, and 2.9% were "about to implement (plans confirmed)." Furthermore, 8.7% of workplaces "do not implement work-from-home and have no plans to do so," but some of these companies indicated they would consider implementation if the alert level is raised to stage 3.

This survey was conducted during the metropolitan area’s level 2.5 and nationwide level 2 social distancing measures (September 7?8). It was a telephone survey targeting 91 private companies out of the top 100 domestic companies by sales (2019 standard), excluding 9 public enterprises, with 69 companies responding.

On the other hand, for production workers, no companies implemented work-from-home due to the nature of their duties. However, when necessary, companies provided separate paid leave beyond annual leave, adjusted meal and break times, and implemented infection prevention measures such as reducing crowding in break rooms, cafeterias, and commuter buses.

The specific methods of implementing work-from-home for office workers varied by company, but the most commonly adopted method (44.4%) was the "shift team formation and rotation" system, dividing members into two or three teams to alternate work-from-home. Next, 27.0% of companies used a method of selecting work-from-home personnel based on health, caregiving, pregnancy, or individual application reasons. Companies implementing work-from-home for all employees except essential personnel accounted for 15.9%.

Regarding the work productivity of office workers during work-from-home, nearly half (46.8%) evaluated it as "90% or more compared to normal work." Additionally, 25.5% responded with "80?89%," 17.0% with "70?79%," and only 10.6% rated it as "below 70%." This survey showed that work-from-home productivity did not differ significantly from normal work, indicating relatively high acceptance of work-from-home. However, this is presumed to be because the survey targeted very large companies that manage work-from-home productivity through IT program utilization and work/performance management systems.

Regarding the use of work-from-home after the COVID-19 crisis is resolved, positive prospects were high. 53.2% of respondent companies expected that "work-from-home will expand more than before COVID-19," while 33.9% anticipated it would "return to pre-COVID-19 levels."

Hangsangwoo, Head of KEF’s Economic Research Department, stated, "This survey confirmed that major domestic companies are actively participating in the social distancing campaign to prevent the spread of COVID-19." He emphasized, "For flexible work systems such as work-from-home, which align with the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, to be successfully established and expanded, building a performance-centered personnel management system and improving communication methods within companies will be important tasks."

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