SK Hynix to Abolish Core Time Starting January Next Year

Lee Seok-hee, CEO, "Reviewing Optimal System to Balance Personal Happiness and Organizational Efficiency"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] SK Hynix has decided to abolish the core time system starting January next year to establish a flexible working system.

According to the industry on the 5th, SK Hynix CEO Lee Seok-hee held an internal performance briefing after the Q3 earnings conference call the day before and stated, "The company is reviewing the optimal system that can balance individual happiness and organizational efficiency," adding, "Once the review is complete, we plan to abolish the core time starting January next year."

Core time refers to the concentrated working hours during which all employees must work in a flexible working system that allows employees to decide their working hours autonomously.

After completing a pilot project to abolish core time last month, SK Hynix conducted a survey and found that the majority of employees were satisfied with the flexible working system without core time.

SK Hynix conducted a pilot project to abolish core time for over 10% of all employees (technical and office workers) for six weeks starting September 6.

The existing core time at SK Hynix is from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Except for lunch time, employees are required to stay at the company and work during these hours.

Because of this, there were voices within SK Hynix that the 40-hour workweek and the core time system conflicted, reducing the effectiveness of the flexible working system. Even if employees worked 40 hours by Thursday afternoon, they had to work in the office on Friday afternoon to comply with core time.

This pilot was conducted similarly to the flextime system, which allows flexible working hours. Instead of mandating specific mandatory office hours, employees had to complete four working hours between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays.