Kakao Sees About 10% Union Membership Surge in Two Weeks After Work System Shift
IT Companies Gradually Return to Office Attendance
About half of Kakao employees are expected to become union members. The membership rate, which hovered around 40%, has surged by about 10% in just half a month. It appears that employees are joining the labor union one after another in protest against the company's sudden policy to revoke 'remote work.'
On the 11th, the Kakao branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' National Chemical, Textile, and Food Industry Union reportedly reached a membership rate of nearly 50% among headquarters employees.
Since its formation in March 2020, the union membership rate had remained in the 40% range but has shown a sharp increase since the announcement of the work system reform on the 27th of last month. If this trend continues, it is predicted that the membership rate will surpass 50% by next week.
Kakao Friends emoticons [Image source=Kakao]
The surge in union membership is attributed to the new work system called 'Kakao On,' which mandates office attendance. It was announced to employees through an internal notice at the end of last year and is scheduled to be implemented starting March.
Until now, Kakao allowed employees to choose freely between office attendance and remote work. For example, through the 'hybrid work system' implemented from July last year, employees could work 100% remotely if they wished. The biweekly four-day workweek called 'Nolgum,' which had been in place since June last year, is also expected to be reduced.
Although there have been continuous complaints from employees during the transition to a full office attendance system, Kakao states that labor-management consultations and employee feedback were gathered during the work system change process. The company explained that if remote work is more effective or unavoidable, it can be allowed for organizations or individuals based on the judgment and approval of the team leader.
IT Companies Gradually Abolishing Remote Work
On October 20 last year, employees are arriving at the lobby of Kakao Agit in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. [Photo by Kang Jin-hyung]
IT companies that had been conducting remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic are recently switching back to office attendance one after another. SK Telecom has also decided to limit the number of remote workdays, which had been autonomously operated according to the characteristics of each organization, to once a week starting next month. Leading domestic game companies such as Nexon and NCSoft are also abolishing remote work and transitioning to company attendance.
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