CJ, Commutes to Comfortable Workplaces... Establishes Hub Offices

CJ Group Hub Office 'CJ Work ON Seoul Station'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] CJ announced on the 12th that it has introduced the hub office ‘CJ Work On’ starting in January to support employees' autonomous choice of workspaces. Through this, the company plans to support each employee’s self-directed immersive environment design and strengthen ‘Work-Life Balance (WLB).’

‘CJ Work ON’ is initially implemented with about 160 seats by designating major CJ affiliate buildings in the metropolitan area as hubs: ▲Yongsan-gu, Seoul (CJ OliveNetworks, CJ CGV) ▲Jung-gu, Seoul (CJ CheilJedang Center) ▲Ilsan, Gyeonggi-do (CJ LiveCity). In the future, it plans to expand to key metropolitan areas including Gangnam, as well as Gyeonggi Province and Jeju Island.

‘CJ Work ON’ features immersive seats and caf?-like lounges. Various work convenience facilities such as meeting rooms and video conferencing systems are provided. It is separately prepared in a space apart from the regular office to guarantee work independence, and any CJ Group employee can use it after a simple prior reservation process.

Last month, CJ raised expectations for the hub office by holding a naming contest for group employees. Over about seven days, more than 3,000 ideas were submitted, attracting great interest. After screening, ‘CJ Work ON,’ meaning ‘a space where you can work anytime and anywhere,’ was finally selected. A survey conducted last week after the official launch showed high satisfaction due to advantages such as work environment, location accessibility, and system convenience.

CJ plans to provide an environment where employees can choose an office close to home, reduce commuting time, and immerse themselves in individual work by introducing the hub office. This is to spread a culture of self-directed design of work time and space, along with the time-selective work system (free adjustment of weekday work hours except for 4 mandatory hours per day) implemented since the second half of last year.

A CJ official said, “Along with strengthening work hour flexibility, workspaces can now be flexibly chosen among office, home, and hub offices,” adding, “If ‘Hadogabi’ talents design their work environment autonomously based on autonomy and demonstrate their best capabilities, it will lead to strengthening competitiveness for both individuals and the company.”

Some affiliates have also introduced hub offices. CJ ENM opened ‘CJ ENM Jeju Branch’ in Woljeong-ri, Jeju, in October last year and started a pilot operation. Until December last year, a total of 30 people, 10 per month, received support funds (2 million KRW) for accommodation and transportation, realizing ‘Workation (Work+Vacation),’ and from this year, it will operate officially reflecting the pilot results.

The entertainment division of CJ ENM also introduced ‘B.I+ (Break for Invention Plus)’ this year, which automatically shuts down PCs after 4 hours of work every Friday morning and switches to collective autonomous activities, effectively declaring the implementation of a ‘4.5-day workweek.’

A CJ official said, “As remote work culture spreads, the culture of gathering in fixed office spaces is weakening, and as the concept of work expands beyond ‘WLB’ to ‘Workation,’ we will continuously improve workplace culture by collecting diverse opinions from employees and domestic and international trends.”

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