"Autonomous Work, Work-Life Balance, and Best Colleagues"… SKT Tops Young Employees' Preferences

JobPlanet Releases 2022 First Half Corporate Evaluations
Best Workplaces for Employees with Less Than 7 Years Experience
SKT Ranks 1st... Half of Top 10 Are ICT Companies

Companies Great for Employees with Less Than 7 Years of Experience. Source=JobPlanet

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] "Complete autonomous work, fulfilling working hours means two weeks off per month with a 4-day workweek"

SK Telecom ranked first in the evaluation of the best workplaces dreamed of by employees with less than 7 years of experience. The company received high satisfaction for work flexibility through autonomous work, as well as high scores in the so-called 'Work-Life Balance (WLB)' category. It also broke the social stereotype known as the 'Law of Preserving Eccentrics,' which suggests that every company has undesirable employees, showing great pride in their colleagues.

Job Planet, a corporate information platform, announced on the 29th the selection of companies that are good workplaces for low-experience employees based on company evaluations within Job Planet from the first half of 2022 (January to June). ▲1st place was SK Telecom with a score of 8.38, followed by ▲2nd SK Hynix Engineering (8.11), ▲3rd NH Investment & Securities (8.05), ▲4th SK Innovation (7.95), ▲5th Snow (7.84), ▲6th Kakao Bank (7.81), ▲7th Naver (7.72), ▲8th Kakao (7.61), ▲9th Kia (7.60), and ▲10th Nexon Korea (7.59).

SK Telecom SKT Tower Exterior View

SK Telecom operates a flexible work system that is not restricted by time or location. A representative example is the 'DYWT (Design Your Work & Time)' system, where individuals independently plan their work schedule in 4-week units without being bound by working hours. Employees can choose their working hours within 160 hours over 4 weeks. Additionally, since April last year, the 'WFA (Work From Anywhere)' system has been in place, operating hub-type workspaces called 'Sphere' in Sindorim, Ilsan, and Bundang in Seoul. Since July, Sphere has also been operated at the Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Employees can work at nearby hub offices without needing to commute to the Euljiro headquarters.

There are also various welfare programs. As long as employees fulfill 160 working hours over 4 weeks, they can enjoy the Happy Friday system, which grants days off on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. Employees with more than 5 years of service are also granted refresh leave. They receive 10 days of leave every 5 years and 45 days every 10 years of continuous service. Pregnant employees can shorten their working hours by 2 hours per day without separate approval and can apply for up to 2 years of parental leave. Leave is managed through a 'self-approval' system, so employees do not need to worry about their supervisors' approval.

Salary is also cited as an advantage. Reviews on Job Planet include comments such as "Perfect in salary, work-life balance, and colleague quality." According to SK Telecom's semi-annual report for the first half of the year, the average salary per employee is 81 million KRW. This is more than 1.5 times higher than LG Uplus (54 million KRW) and KT (49 million KRW) in the same telecommunications industry. SK Telecom first surpassed an average employee salary of 100 million KRW in 2019 and has maintained this level for three consecutive years. Given that the salary reached 81 million KRW in just the first half of this year, it is expected to maintain the 100 million KRW level for the fourth consecutive year.

Meanwhile, ICT companies accounted for half of the top 10 companies in this evaluation. Included were SK Telecom, Naver subsidiary Snow, Naver, Kakao, and Nexon Korea. If SK Hynix subsidiary SK Hynix Engineering, which handles semiconductor equipment operations, and Kakao-affiliated internet-only bank Kakao Bank are also classified as ICT, the number increases further.

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