Hunet Introduces 4-Day Workweek... 'MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayDayDayDay'

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Lifelong education specialist company Hunet announced on the 30th that it will introduce a four-day workweek with Fridays off starting July 1, implementing a full 32-hour workweek.

While companies such as Kakao, SK, and Woowa Brothers have begun experimenting with shortened work hours like biweekly four-day workweeks and 32-hour workweeks, Hunet has attracted attention by adopting a bold four-day workweek system designating every Friday as a day off.

Previously, Hunet quickly introduced and successfully established innovative work systems. Since the end of 2019, it has implemented a ‘4.5-day workweek’ and decided to expand to a ‘4-day workweek’ after two years. It had also rapidly introduced advanced systems such as ▲one day of remote work per week (2021) ▲unlimited flexible vacation (2017) ▲flextime commuting (2014) ▲learning leave (one month paid leave after five years of service). Even after the start of the four-day workweek, various existing work and leave systems will be maintained.

During this process, the company’s performance steadily improved through a culture of autonomy and responsibility, successfully proving the effectiveness of innovative work system experiments. In particular, during the recent three years since the full implementation of the 4.5-day system, performance grew by more than 20% annually, breaking all-time highest sales records.

Hunet conducted a six-month pilot period allowing employees to choose any day of the week to take off. A Hunet official said, “Based on employee survey results during the pilot period, we concluded that working and resting together increases immersion and productivity. Therefore, it was decided that all employees would take Fridays off, which was the most frequently chosen day off by employees.”

Meanwhile, ahead of the four-day workweek, Hunet conducted a survey among employees regarding their plans for Fridays. The top responses included ▲exercise-related self-development and hobbies (17.9%) ▲rest (16.7%) ▲travel (13.6%) ▲cultural activities (13.1%) ▲work-related self-development (10.8%) ▲learning-related self-development (9.4%), showing high expectations for having Fridays off every week.

Youngtak Cho, CEO of Hunet, said, “With the four-day workweek, I believe employees will recharge for three days and work with immersion for four days, playing a positive role for themselves and the organization. Just as we showed high growth with a culture of autonomy and responsibility after introducing the 4.5-day system, I expect excellent results with the four-day system as well, playing a significant role in changing the work environment of Korean companies.”

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