Public Procurement Service to Expand Call Center Staff Remote Work and Consultations to 50% Gradually This Month

Government Procurement Call Center staff working office view. Provided by Public Procurement Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Public Procurement Service (PPS) is promoting remote work for employees of the Government Procurement Call Center.

The PPS announced on the 15th that starting from the 16th, call center counselors will be able to work from home to prevent the spread and cluster infections of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Remote work will be implemented by starting with 10% of counselors on the first day and expanding to about 50% of all counselors within this month.

Even during remote work, counseling will be available through the main phone number of the Procurement Call Center as before.

Previously, the PPS had been implementing measures to reduce infection risks within the call center office, such as wearing masks, providing individual hand sanitizers, frequent checks for fever and respiratory symptoms, and daily disinfection.

Additionally, flexible meal times and temporary closure of meeting rooms and break rooms have been enforced to reduce contact among counselors.

Currently, about 70 counselors work at the Procurement Call Center. Their main tasks include explaining procurement work and how to use the Nara Marketplace system to demand institutions and procurement companies, handling approximately 1.4 million counseling calls annually.

Baek Seung-bo, Director of the Procurement Management Bureau, said, “The Procurement Call Center plays a key role in supporting public procurement projects worth 120 trillion won annually. The PPS will do its best to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while ensuring uninterrupted counseling services.”