Samsung Electronics, Ban on Employee Travel Lifted After One Day... Why?

On the 29th, when Samsung Electronics announced its confirmed third-quarter earnings, employees were coming and going at the Samsung Electronics building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Despite the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), Samsung Electronics achieved a record by approaching 67 trillion won in sales in the third quarter of this year. Operating profit also exceeded 10 trillion won for the first time in two years. The third-quarter operating profit was 12.3533 trillion won, an increase of 58.83% compared to the same period last year. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (DS) Division changed some of its five quarantine rules, which were originally centered on a 'ban' on travel and use of multi-use facilities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the company, to a 'recommendation to refrain' just one day after the announcement.

The Samsung Electronics DS Division COVID-19 Response Task Force explained on the 17th through a notice, "The recent confirmed cases within DS workplaces are highly likely to be infections among employees related to food consumption," adding, "However, there were also many voices requesting improvements."

According to the notice on that day, the rules announced on the 15th, such as individual travel bans and bans on eating outside the cafeteria, were partially revised to recommend maximum restraint. A Samsung Electronics official stated, "There was a division of opinion among employees regarding the quarantine rules, so some content and expressions were modified."

The Samsung Electronics DS Division COVID-19 Response Task Force announced that it will newly revise and operate seven quarantine rules reflecting many opinions.

First, the individual travel ban rule was changed to a recommendation to refrain as much as possible, and if going out is unavoidable, employees must carefully monitor symptoms and, if symptomatic, undergo a COVID-19 test and only enter after a negative result is confirmed.

Take-out meals are recommended to be consumed using the company cafeteria, and if unavoidable, must be eaten alone while adhering to quarantine rules. Food and beverage sales facilities such as in-house cafes, where many people gather densely, will be temporarily suspended until the end of the year.

However, convenience stores will operate mainly for daily necessities, and packaged cakes and cookies from bakeries will be available. Instead, it is recommended to consume these items at home after purchase.

Use of external restaurants, cafes, pubs, and other multi-use facilities where masks are removed is strongly discouraged, and if use is unavoidable, symptoms must be carefully monitored, and if symptomatic, a COVID-19 test must be conducted and only after a negative result is confirmed can entry be allowed.

Additionally, face-to-face meetings should be minimized and switching to non-face-to-face meetings is strongly encouraged. The policy is to minimize movement between workplaces and gradually expand the use of facial-type thermometers. This is to improve the shortcomings of wrist-type devices and to reduce waiting times caused by the longer measurement time when using facial-type devices.

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