The Era of '3.5 Million Flexible Work Systems'... 1.14 Million Remote Workers, 12 Times More Than Before COVID-19

Ministry of Employment Holds Meeting with Industry Representative Groups on the Expansion of Remote Work

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The number of workers utilizing flexible work systems such as telecommuting and flexible working hours has exceeded 3.5 million. The number of telecommuters reached 1.14 million, increasing twelvefold compared to before COVID-19. In response, the government announced that it held discussions with related industry representatives to explore ways to expand telecommuting.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, the Ministry of Employment and Labor held a meeting with representatives from six industry sectors at the Seoul Employment and Labor Office to discuss measures to expand telecommuting amid the spread of COVID-19. They also conveyed a message requesting cooperation to promote telecommuting. The six participating organizations were the Software Industry Association (Information Technology), Design Promotion Institute (Design and Cultural Contents), Precision Chemical Industry Promotion Association (Chemicals and Bio), Textile Industry Federation (Textile Manufacturing and Fashion), Electronics and Information Communication Industry Promotion Association (Electronics), and the Information Broadcasting and Communication Federation (Broadcasting and Communication Technology).

According to Statistics Korea, the number of telecommuters (remote workers) increased from 95,000 in August 2019 to 1.14 million in August this year, about a twelvefold increase. The total number of people using flexible work systems rose from 2.215 million to 3.534 million during the same period. As of August this year, the proportion of flexible work system users among the total 20.992 million wage workers was 16.8%, up 8 percentage points from 10.8% in August 2019.

Status of Employees Utilizing Flexible Work Arrangements. (Data from Ministry of Employment and Labor)

According to this year's employment impact assessment by the Korea Labor Institute, 75.2% of businesses intend to continue telecommuting at the current level even after the end of COVID-19. Among these companies, a significant number reported no difference in productivity (53.6%) or experienced productivity improvements (18.7%). The Ministry of Employment and Labor explained, "This suggests that telecommuting can contribute not only to achieving work-life balance and reducing commuting burdens, thereby enhancing job satisfaction, but also to boosting work motivation and productivity through increased concentration." Infectious disease experts also emphasize the significant effect of social distancing through telecommuting and similar measures.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor stressed its plan to actively promote the expansion of telecommuting. To this end, it requested cooperation from economic organizations such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Korean Industries, and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, and plans to hold meetings with industry groups to actively encourage efforts to expand telecommuting at the corporate level.

Kim Young-jung, Director of Employment Policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "We hope that industry groups will recognize the necessity of expanding telecommuting as an opportunity to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and make efforts to promote it through their member companies." He added, "The government will actively support companies' efforts to introduce telecommuting by providing labor cost and infrastructure construction subsidies and offering human resources and labor consulting." Representatives from industry groups such as the Electronics and Information Communication Industry Promotion Association responded, "We empathize with the seriousness of the COVID-19 resurgence crisis and will make efforts to communicate and promote telecommuting among our member companies to ensure its expansion."

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