[Real Beat] To Tokyo, to Gangneung... Workation Popularity 'Explodes' [Office Shift] (23)

Naver, LG Uplus, Hyundai Glovis Rapidly Increasing
Positive Effects on Welfare, Productivity, and Job Satisfaction

Editor's Note[Jjinbit] is a shortened form of 'Jung Hyunjin's Business Trend' and 'Real Business Trend,' a segment that showcases trends in changes in work. The 'Office Shift' segment within Jjinbit closely examines changes in offices triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and serves as a foundation to explore answers to work styles through experiments we have conducted together. It comes to you every Saturday and Sunday morning. After 40 installments, it will also be available as a book.

Naver will officially open its 'Workation' program next month in Tokyo, Japan. It is a kind of welfare program where employees work at a base camp located in the Meguro area of Tokyo. From December last year to March this year, a pilot program was operated, with five employees participating each week, totaling 80 employees. The satisfaction level is, needless to say, very high. Some might think it’s just a trip, but employees work busily during office hours and sometimes work overtime when there is a lot of work. So, it is not a vacation. It is simply the same work done in a different space than in Korea.

Naver Japan Tokyo Basecamp

"I think probably all employees want to apply," said a Naver official describing the internal atmosphere regarding this program. The enthusiasm is that intense. Many employees show interest because even though they do the same work, they can refresh their mood in a new space and travel during holidays and leisure time. Although a week can be considered long or short, it is a welfare system made possible by remote work. Naver provides single-room accommodations, breakfast, rechargeable transportation cards, and support for local interpretation if needed.

Besides Tokyo, Naver sends 10 employees weekly on workation to its office 'Connect One' in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. Employees can work at the Chuncheon office for up to five days and stay in provided accommodations. So far, 300 employees have participated. During the pilot operation last year, the competition rate once exceeded 20 to 1, showing its popularity.

◆ 'Workation' Emerged as Remote Work Became Possible

Workation is a portmanteau of work and vacation. In a situation where values like work-life balance and well-being have become more important, two seemingly incompatible words were combined. The term emerged as the concept of telecommuting and remote work spread due to COVID-19, confirming that as long as systems like laptops are in place, work can be done at resorts or other places outside the office. It is a system that allows employees to leave home, work during the day in unfamiliar places, and enjoy leisure time outside working hours.

A similar term that appeared before workation is 'Bleisure,' a combination of business and leisure, coined in 2009. It is mainly used overseas rather than domestically and refers to attaching vacation time before or after a business trip. According to data released by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) in 2017, 37% of business travelers in North America combined leisure with business trips. Although additional costs are borne by individuals, companies partially cover airfare and accommodation for business trips, so bleisure has also been regarded as a welfare benefit.

Workation is considered a concept that goes a step beyond bleisure. Both concepts involve working outside the traditional office and enjoying leisure time outside working hours, which can enhance employee creativity and productivity. However, bleisure is based on business trips where employees perform tasks required locally, whereas workation involves doing the same existing work in a new space. The non-face-to-face environment established during the pandemic is seen as the key background for the emergence of workation.

◆ Does 'Welfare' Workation Boost Creativity and Work Efficiency?

Recently, the number of companies adopting workation in Korea is rapidly increasing. Companies maintaining remote work introduced during the pandemic, like Naver, as well as companies hesitant to adopt remote work, are using workation as a form of compensation and welfare that maintains existing work while increasing employee satisfaction.

LG Uplus has implemented a workation system since February. Although it recently reduced remote work from twice a week to once a week, it actively introduced workation as a welfare measure. Program participants stay and work for up to a week at two locations: an office near Anmok Beach in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, and the Gonjiam Resort in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. In Gangneung, applications are accepted mainly from teams responsible for agile, new business, and strategic tasks where creativity is important, while Gonjiam Resort is designed for employees to participate with their families. Within three months of implementation, nearly 150 employees from 15 teams participated in the workation program.

An LG Uplus official explained, "This system was implemented to refresh and improve work efficiency," adding, "Employees who participated expressed satisfaction, and word spread, greatly increasing demand."

Hyundai Glovis operates a workation system for long-term employees, allowing them to work anywhere domestically or abroad for up to 28 days. Unlike companies that prepare separate office spaces, Hyundai Glovis's workation is characterized by employees finding spaces that combine offices and accommodations themselves. Using this system, three colleagues from the same team have gone on workation together to Jeju Island. Some employees also go abroad with their families to places like Chiang Mai, Thailand, or Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, settling locally and spending longer periods working and traveling than during previous vacations. Experienced employees say that working according to Korean time with just a laptop was not very difficult.

Besides large corporations, the use of workation centers is increasing, especially among startups. Deskker, an office furniture brand, operated a workation experience space in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, where 559 people from 77 companies participated in workation programs over 140 days last year.

Companies are using this as a welfare benefit by investing some costs, judging that it helps not only boost employee morale but also improve productivity and creativity. According to a 2021 survey by the Korea Tourism Organization of about 50 HR managers, 61.5% responded that workation systems positively affect work productivity. Opinions also included welfare improvement (98.1%), improvement in employees' quality of life (92.3%), and increased job satisfaction (84.6%).

Local governments in Gangwon, Jeju, Busan, and other regions are actively working to attract such companies. Gangwon Province expanded the cities and provinces applying the workation system from five in 2021 to eight this year. In Jeju, hotel chains like Hanwha Resort Jeju and Maison Glad Jeju have launched workation packages. Busan is building workation base centers and satellite centers, supporting accommodations, and actively attracting companies. Additionally, various infrastructures such as offices and accommodations have been established, and separate workation experience programs are operated.

◆ Choosing Your Workplace Freely, Whether Domestic or Abroad

The concept of workation originates from the 'digital nomad.' It is based on the idea that with devices like laptops and smartphones, one can work anywhere in the world without significant restrictions. In terms of workplace flexibility, workation is sometimes used interchangeably with 'Work Anywhere,' a system where employees can freely choose their workplace. Work Anywhere goes a step beyond company-provided welfare, allowing all employees to enjoy workation by personal choice without spatial constraints.

Global accommodation sharing company Airbnb, and in Korea, Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baedal Minjok, and Line Plus have adopted the Work Anywhere system. Airbnb introduced a system in April last year allowing employees to choose their workspaces freely and stay and work for up to 90 days annually in over 170 countries. Woowa Brothers also introduced the Work Anywhere system in January this year. If working abroad, they implemented 'co-work time' to facilitate smooth communication among members and only require employees to keep their own working hours.

Globally, considering the demand for workation, more countries are preparing 'digital nomad visas,' and companies are organizing related systems. When working abroad for extended periods, visa and tax issues must be considered. Using a digital nomad visa, unlike a short-term tourist visa, one can usually stay long-term for about a year by proving steady income through remote work, with some countries allowing extensions. Currently, over 50 countries issue this visa. Companies like Airbnb are cooperating with governments to help employees obtain remote work visas.