"Working Overtime Again Today"... The Lighthouse of Jusikhoesa Hanguk Shining at 9 PM

From 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM at Large Corporation Offices...

The night view of Seoul is beautiful. The tall buildings filling the dense forest of buildings emit sparkling lights even at night. The Korean economy is struggling in the darkness due to the global recession and trade deficit. Major Korean companies move forward in the dark. The headquarters or office buildings of major companies are like lighthouses. They shine brightly at night because of the people working inside. Thanks to these shining lighthouses, many past economic crises were overcome. It is beautiful but also bittersweet. Families are waiting at home. Opinions are sharply divided among labor and management, labor groups, generations, and industries over the 'working hours available in a week.' We looked into the office buildings of major companies with lights on around 9 p.m. on a weekday night.

At 9 p.m. on April 27, the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul, looked more beautiful at night than during the day. The LG Twin Towers, brightly lit at night, are the headquarters of LG Group. Chairman Koo Kwang-mo also works on the 30th floor of the East Tower here. All LG affiliates, including LG Electronics, LG Chem, and LG Display, are located here. In fact, LG is known as the group with the best 'work-life balance' among the four major conglomerates. To put it positively, it means they work efficiently. LG Electronics posted an operating profit of 1.5 trillion won in the first quarter of this year, surpassing Samsung Electronics.

LG Twin Towers building lit up on the night of the 27th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Still, some employees work overtime. At 9 p.m., inside the building, a father who had not yet gone home was wrestling with his computer at his desk. The LG Twin Towers have an automatic light-off system that turns off office lights at set times such as 7 p.m., 8 p.m., and 10 p.m. However, due to employees who need to work night shifts for reasons such as being on duty and cleaning staff, the building effectively never goes dark at night. The so-called 'leaving work song' signaling the end of the workday plays at 5:30 p.m. Although there is a timekeeping system that records only 40 hours of work per week, the computer does not turn off or refuse to turn on if someone works more than 40 hours.

LG Twin Towers building lit up on the night of the 27th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The Samsung Electronics Seocho Office Building, visible from anywhere near Gangnam Station, also has office lights on past 9 p.m. The building houses the offices and meeting rooms of executives including Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Employees of Samsung financial affiliates such as Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, and Samsung Securities also work here.

Due to the nature of the building, with many financial company employees working in the 24-hour financial market, many work overtime. Employees at Samsung Electronics plants and sites in Suwon, Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong, and other suburbs of Seoul must take shuttle buses that run only at certain times, so they are forced to leave work. However, the situation is different for those working in Seoul. A Samsung Electronics employee working in Seoul did not bring a bag to a dinner at 6 p.m. After a meal with drinks, he returned not to his home but to the office.

On the 27th, Samsung Seocho Building, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the 27th, an employee is working overtime at the Samsung Seocho Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The SK Group headquarters building located in Seorin-dong, Jongno-gu, houses the holding company SK Inc. and major affiliates such as SK Innovation and SK E&S. SK affiliates also operate under a flexible working hours system where employees set their own working hours based on an 8-hour workday principle. Since the company does not enforce fixed commuting times, it is possible to come to work in the afternoon and work until the evening. Because working hours vary due to flexible work arrangements, systems like automatic computer shutdown or forced light-off cannot be applied.

On the 26th, SK headquarters in Namsan, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the 26th, SK Building in Seorin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The Hyundai Motor and Kia headquarters in Yangjae-dong houses major support departments such as finance, human resources, and purchasing. Although the labor union is relatively strong, limiting overtime work, most employees working in the headquarters building are not union members. Of course, like other companies, individual work records are kept. If employees exceed the set working hours, their PCs shut down and office lights turn off. If they need to work past the end of the workday, they must input this into the internal system and notify their manager. Once entered, the overtime can be extended in 4-hour increments.

On the night of the 26th, the Hyundai Kia Motors headquarters building was illuminated. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

There is more frequent overtime at the technical research center (Namyang Research Center) in Hwaseong. Because it is in a remote location, many commute by shuttle bus, which stops running after 8 p.m., but many departments with major projects that make avoiding overtime difficult are concentrated here. However, even here, young researchers who are union members rarely work late into the night. Most employees staying late are senior researchers at the managerial level.

On the night of the 26th, the Hyundai Kia Motors headquarters building was illuminated. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Kang Jin-gu (pseudonym, 46), a team leader at POSCO, arrives at work before sunrise and leaves after sunset. Not every day, but most days are like this. It is not because of a heavy workload but because the executives he supports arrive before sunrise and leave after sunset. The MZ generation employees do not understand this, but he belongs to a 'sandwiched' generation accustomed to the organizational culture of arriving before executives and leaving after them.

Sometimes he even comes to work on Sundays to prepare Monday meeting materials. Of course, POSCO officially has an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekday schedule. They also apply a flexible work system, allowing individuals to adjust their working hours. Computers do not shut down even if overtime is worked. Occasionally, employees come to work even after taking mandatory leave.

On the night of the 26th, the POSCO building was illuminated. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Next to the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office in Janggyo-dong is the Hanwha Group building. To reduce congestion, each affiliate has different commuting times. Also, a flexible work system is in place, so there are no fixed commuting hours. Computers automatically shut down after a certain time. However, many people still work at night. Hanwha headquarters is one of the most brightly lit buildings at night in Janggyo-dong.

On the 26th, Hanwha Building in Janggyo-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to an analysis of data from Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Employment and Labor by the Federation of Korean Industries, the average monthly overtime hours for regular employees was 8.2 hours in 2022. In a 'corporate perception survey' of 827 MZ generation respondents conducted by the Federation, the top choice for a company to work for was 'a place that guarantees work-life balance (36.6%)' rather than salary.

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