7 out of 10 Office Workers Prefer a 4-Day Workweek Over Wage Increases... Prioritizing Work-Life Balance Over Money

Support for Wage Increase Cuts
Partial Introduction of 4-Day Workweek at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix

Companies are gradually introducing a partial implementation of the so-called "worker's dream," the four-day workweek. Among them, most office workers prefer the introduction of the four-day workweek over wage increases.

On the 2nd, Newsis reported, "According to a survey commissioned to Incruit targeting 1,148 office workers, 92.7% of respondents said they support the introduction of the four-day workweek at their current company." Only 7.3% opposed the four-day workweek.

A survey revealed that most employees prefer the introduction of a four-day workweek over a wage increase.

The survey was conducted online from the 28th to 29th of last month, targeting 1,148 Incruit members. The majority, 56.1%, belonged to small and medium-sized enterprises, followed by 14.9% from mid-sized companies, 11.0% from large corporations, 9.1% from micro-enterprises, and 8.9% from public institutions.

Regarding respondents' years of service, 44.3% were from new hires to those with up to 3 years of experience, the largest group, followed by 19.3% with 4 to 6 years, 10.9% with 7 to 9 years, 8.0% with over 21 years, and 6.9% with 10 to 12 years. The survey's sampling error is ±2.89 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

The main reason for supporting the four-day workweek was "improved work efficiency and productivity due to sufficient rest," at 78.6%. This was followed by "establishment of work-life balance culture" (67.3%) and "increased time for self-development leading to improved work ability" (42.2%).

Notably, when asked about support for the four-day workweek assuming a reduction, freeze, or cutback in wage increases or welfare benefits, 67.8% were in favor, while 32.2% opposed. This indicates that a significant number of workers prioritize "work-life balance" over money.

On the other hand, the main reasons for opposing the four-day workweek were "increased possibility of reduced or cut salary increases" at 61.4%, followed by "decline in work ability" (34.9%), "worsening work-life balance due to increased overtime" (32.5%), and "lack of fairness" (31.3%).

Only 1.7% of respondents said their company currently applies the four-day workweek. Those who said their company partially applies the four-day workweek, such as a 4.5-day workweek, a system with Fridays off, or a biweekly four-day workweek, accounted for 3.5%. A whopping 94.8% said they work a five-day workweek or more.

When asked whether their company could adopt the four-day workweek, responses were almost evenly split with 49.9% saying "possible" and 50.1% saying "impossible." The most common reason for saying it was impossible was "the decision-makers such as CEOs and executives have no intention to introduce the four-day workweek," at 41.1%. The next most common reason was "due to the nature of the industry, the four-day workweek is not feasible," at 32.7%.

As complementary methods to the four-day workweek, "biweekly four-day workweek" received the highest response rate at 32.0%. The "4.5-day workweek" also gained 22.5% support, and the "flexible working system," which allows employees to leave anytime after completing a certain number of working hours, was supported by 18.6%.

Meanwhile, while the existing four-day workweek was mainly introduced in IT companies or startups with a small number of employees, recently, leading domestic conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have begun adopting similar systems.

Samsung Electronics introduced a monthly leave system starting last month. Employees who complete the mandatory monthly working hours (160 to 168 hours) do not have to come to work on the Friday of the week that includes the 21st, the payday.

SK Hynix has been operating the "Happy Friday" system since March last year, where employees take off the third Friday of every month. Other SK Group affiliates such as SK Inc. and SK Telecom also partially implement the four-day workweek.

SK Telecom introduced "Happy Friday" in January 2020, expanding on the "Super Friday" 4.5-day workweek system where employees leave early on Fridays. Only the minimum staff required for network management, customer centers, and distribution operations come to work.

Additionally, CJ ENM revamped its "B.I+ (B.I Plus)" system, which allowed employees to work four hours on Friday mornings and then freely engage in external activities for four hours in the afternoon, to operate "B.I+ Day," where employees can engage in external activities for eight hours every other Friday.

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