IT and Gaming Industries End Remote Work and Gradually Return to Offices

SKT Limits Remote Work to Once a Week... Actively Utilizes Hub Office 'Sphere'
Kakao Transitions to 'Office First' Work System

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] As the spread of COVID-19 subsides, the 'work from home' trend that had taken root in the IT industry is gradually disappearing. Companies are bringing employees back to the office to actively enhance work productivity.

On the 10th, SK Telecom announced that starting next month, it will implement 'Work From Anywhere (WFA) 2.0,' which prioritizes working at the 'main office.' Accordingly, work-from-home, which had been autonomously operated according to the characteristics of each organization, will be limited to once a week. However, for vulnerable groups such as those with underlying health conditions or pregnant employees, the number of work-from-home days can be flexibly adjusted with the approval of the team leader.

SK Telecom plans to actively utilize its hub office called 'sphere.' Commuting to this location will be recognized as commuting to the main office. Since April last year, SK Telecom has been operating hub offices to improve employee work efficiency and job satisfaction.

An SK Telecom official said, "WFA 2.0 will be introduced starting from the 1st of next month," adding, "Based on the implementation of this work system, we plan to further focus on transforming into an artificial intelligence (AI) company that benefits customers through technology and services."

Like SK Telecom, office attendance is becoming the norm across the IT industry. SK Broadband has also decided to reduce work-from-home from twice a week to once a week starting next month. LG Uplus allows work-from-home twice during the five working days, but since this is a 'recommendation,' many employees are reportedly commuting to work five days a week as usual.

Kakao Entertainment will switch to an 'office-first' work system starting next month. This system allows employees to work freely at their chosen locations but sets the hours from 2 PM to 5 PM as focused working hours (all check-in time) for collaboration. Previously, the parent company Kakao and another affiliate, Kakao Games, also announced a transition to this work system.

However, Kakao Entertainment plans to decide on specific work methods through consultation. A Kakao Entertainment official said, "When remote work was introduced, COVID-19 was spreading rapidly, but now that social distancing is gradually being lifted and commuting is possible, this decision was made to improve communication in terms of work productivity and efficiency." Kakao added, "We plan to consult so that each organization can choose work methods according to the nature of their tasks."

Game companies such as NCSoft, Nexon, and Netmarble have been implementing full office attendance since June last year, when COVID-19 began to subside. These companies believe that work-from-home caused disruptions in new game development. Especially for project-based tasks, collaboration among employees is essential, and remote work has limited communication between staff.

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