Others work from home... but I take the 'Jiokcheol' to commute to work

41.5% of Office Workers Do Not Work from Home
Commute and Office COVID-19 Concerns
"It Seems Like Higher-Ups Don't Care"
Growing Dissatisfaction with Daily Office Attendance

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Jeong Heon-cheol (31, pseudonym), who works at a trading company, has many complaints about his company these days. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, he has never been able to work from home. Despite several waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the word "remote work" has never been mentioned within the company. More than 50 people work in the same space, and news often spreads that colleagues are undergoing COVID-19 tests, causing great anxiety. Jeong said, "As long as I have a laptop, I can work sufficiently from home, but I still have to go to the office," adding, "The company doesn't care whether employees get COVID-19 or not."

Although remote work has become routine due to the COVID-19 situation, for some workplaces, it remains a story from another country. Heo Yoon-su (30, pseudonym), who works at a food company, has the infrastructure to access the company network from outside, but still commutes to the office every day. He carries the anxiety of possibly getting infected with COVID-19 while packed closely together without even a meter of distance on the "hell train" he takes to and from work and at the company. Heo said, "The higher-ups have the perception that people who work from home are just slacking off, so remote work will likely remain impossible," adding, "It makes me think the company only regards employees this way, and employee dissatisfaction is high."

According to a survey released by the online recruitment platform JobKorea in January, among 839 office workers who participated, 41.5% responded that they have never experienced remote work since the COVID-19 issue began. Also, when asked, "Has your current company actively implemented remote work according to social distancing levels?" 44.7% answered "No." Although only 5.4% of respondents said remote work is unnecessary, more than 40% of office workers are living lives disconnected from remote work.

Professor Kim Sung-hee of Korea University’s Labor Issues Research Institute said, "Overall, remote work is a work style that can reduce COVID-19 infection and anxiety while increasing individual efficiency, productivity, and creativity," adding, "It is highly likely to remain a valuable work style even after the COVID-19 era, so companies should make efforts to implement remote work for their development."

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