Gyeonggi-do Holds '4.5-Day Workweek Public Hearing' to Gather Opinions from Various Sectors

Panels and discussants attending the public hearing on the "4.5-Day Workweek Without Wage Reduction," held by Gyeonggi Province on the 2nd at the Gyeonggi Comprehensive Labor Welfare Center, are taking a commemorative photo.

Gyeonggi Province held a public hearing on June 2nd at the Gyeonggi Comprehensive Labor Welfare Center regarding the '4.5-day workweek without wage reduction.'

The hearing, organized to reflect the opinions of experts and business representatives, proceeded in the following order: ▲Explanation of the background and implementation plan for introducing the 4.5-day workweek in Gyeonggi Province ▲Cases of working hour reductions domestically and internationally and the actual working conditions in Korea ▲Sharing experiences and effectiveness of the 4-day workweek introduction ▲Panel discussion.

Geum Cheol-wan, Director of the Labor Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, emphasized the need for social interest and discussion on reducing working hours in light of paradigm shifts in jobs due to technological advancements such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robots. He also stated that the province will temporarily introduce the 4.5-day workweek for private companies within the province and analyze the impact of reduced working hours on companies and workers to discuss the validity of the system and its social acceptability.

Kim Jong-jin, Director of the Working Citizens Research Institute, presented various pilot project cases on working hour reductions both domestically and internationally, including SK Telecom, POSCO, Severance Hospital, and the UK’s Atom Bank, under the theme of ‘Sustainable Socioeconomics,’ proposing ways to transition to reduced working hours for better work-life balance.

Lee Dae-hoon, CEO of Coread Co., Ltd., a company specializing in automatic door manufacturing and installation, explained that since introducing the 4-day workweek in 2019?the first among domestic manufacturers?under the management philosophy of ‘working less and earning more,’ employee satisfaction and corporate sales have both increased contrary to common concerns.

The panel discussion, chaired by Kang Soon-hee, former Chairman of the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service, included participants such as Lee Soon-gap, Education Director of the Gyeonggi Regional Headquarters of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions; Kim Jin-woo, Executive Director of the Gyeonggi Employers Federation; Park Woo-ram, Professor of Economics at Sookmyung Women’s University; and Lee Yong-gwan, Research Fellow at the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, who voiced diverse opinions on the feasibility and effectiveness of reducing working hours.

Joo Hyung-chul, President of the Gyeonggi Research Institute, stated, "Through the introduction of the 4.5-day workweek in Gyeonggi Province, we aim to find various policy implications and reach a consensus on appropriate working hours in our society." He added, "Based on the diverse opinions gathered at this public hearing, we plan to pursue several policy tasks to implement a human-centered economy, Humano-mics."

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