Hundreds of Thousands Bonus to Colleagues... "Take More Parental Leave" Encouragement [K Population Strategy]

(6) Family-Friendly Excellent SMEs Motion Report
'Male-Dominated' Company Strengthening Flexible Work and Parental Leave
Colleagues Receive Support Bonuses of Millions When Taking Leave
"Zero IT Staff Resignations, Revenue Doubles Every Year"

Editor's NoteThe key to solving South Korea's population problem lies within companies. A workplace culture that evaluates employees based on their work regardless of gender and a family-friendly environment are crucial to addressing the K-population issue. While low birth rates stem from complex factors, it is important to ensure that workplace burdens do not become obstacles that make people hesitate to have children. Asia Economy plans to visit companies leading family-friendly policies to identify the factors that helped these systems take root stably, and to explore various solutions with companies that lack practical conditions. Through this, we aim to encourage change starting from companies and analyze the government's role in enabling this. We listen closely to voices emphasizing that company culture and atmosphere that reduce psychological burdens are more important than financial support, and present alternatives from various perspectives.

Hundreds of Thousands Bonus to Colleagues... "Take More Parental Leave" Encouragement [K Population Strategy]

Jin Gwang-il, a resident of Gangseo-gu, Seoul, is greeting in front of the kindergarten while sending his child to school on the 21st of last month. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

At 8:35 a.m. on the 21st of last month, Jin Gwang-il (38, male) set out holding the hands of his two children at an apartment in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Twice a week, on days when his wife goes to work, Jin takes full responsibility for preparing the children for school and personally takes them to the kindergarten and daycare within the complex. Lee Chan (5) and Lee Hwan (4), holding their father's hands, kept their eyes on Jin throughout the short five-minute walk to school. "Today, the person picking you up is Dad," Jin said, and the children smiled brightly at him, shouting, "Wow, today we get to do everything with Dad!" Upon arriving at the kindergarten, Jin knelt down and looked at Lee Chan, saying, "Go play bravely." Lee Chan smiled back at his father who was straightening his clothes and said, "See you later, Dad." Jin then walked over to the nearby daycare and hugged Lee Hwan tightly. Lee Hwan playfully stuck out his tongue at the reporter accompanying Jin and ran into the daycare. Days when Jin personally takes the children to school have become his happiest times.

Jin was not involved in childcare from the beginning. He met his wife in high school and married her in 2017. Their child was born the following year, and his wife had to quit her clothing business, which she had been running for ten years, due to childbirth and childcare issues. At that time, the workplace he was at had a conservative culture with frequent overtime, leaving little time to spend with the children.

"The company I used to work at was rigid and hierarchical. Oh, there was no skipping company dinners just because you had a baby. Everyone had to go no matter what. Back then, I had no sense of the problem. Honestly, since I was working, I thought it was natural for my wife to take care of the kids alone at home."

Jin's life changed 180 degrees when he moved to Motion, a small company with a family-friendly system firmly in place. Motion is a software company located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, with only 41 employees. Thanks to the company's flexible working hours, allowing employees to start work anytime between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., Jin was able to take his children to school. His wife was able to use her free time to study for reemployment, obtain certifications, and secure a hospital job. On Tuesdays and Fridays, when his wife goes to work, Jin naturally takes on childcare responsibilities. He also realized how precious balancing work and family life is. Jin said that taking the children to school not only brought harmony to the family but also improved his concentration at work.

"On days when I come home late, my wife nags me about when I'll be home. Then I get stressed and we end up fighting. That causes conflicts between us because of the kids. But since I started taking the kids to school, the atmosphere at home has improved. My in-laws also like me more because their daughter is working and happier. Since we don't fight at home, I can focus better on work, which is a huge change."

Dad employees in childcare groups, colleagues receiving support allowances

On the 21st of last month, employees of the small and medium-sized enterprise Motion, located in Yongin, Gyeonggi, participated in the Working Daddy small group to share information about childcare and children's education. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Jin is not the only one benefiting from the family-friendly system. Motion has 34 male employees, accounting for 82.9% of the total workforce. Despite this, solid systems for gender equality, parental leave, and flexible work are in place. Most male employees join the company indifferent to work-family balance, gender equality, and childcare, but their perspectives change as they use the system.

Since early last year, a working dads' small group called "Dad is a Motion Hero" was formed. It was initiated by an employee who had participated in the "Dad Hi" male childcare group run by Gyeonggi Province in 2021. In this group, male employees with children meet monthly to study childcare. Employees who had children earlier share their trial-and-error experiences and childcare tips as fathers. The company supports the working dads' group by providing childcare kits for their children and sponsoring group family trips.

The company's first in-house couple to decide to have children after joining was born from this environment. Lee Ki-sung (32, male) joined Motion in April 2020 and married a colleague in May 2022. At that time, they were a 'DINK' couple (Dual Income No Kids) with no plans to have children. Lee said, "I happened to join a working dads' group family trip, and seeing parents with their children was really beautiful. I changed my mind about having children because I felt the company cares not only about employees but also about their families' happiness."

The most praised family policy among employees is the "colleague support allowance." At Motion, when an employee takes parental leave, the colleagues who take on the increased workload receive additional allowances from the saved wages of the employee on leave. The allowance is not distributed evenly across the team but is allocated differentially based on the amount of work shared. This measure is to ensure that no employee hesitates to take parental leave out of concern for burdening colleagues. Employees who take on extra work receive bonuses worth several million won, leading to jokes like "Everyone should take parental leave generously."

From a management perspective, family policies have had positive effects. Many employees have either accepted lower salaries from previous jobs or stopped changing jobs. Choi Jong-young (43), a father of three, told the reporter attending the childcare group, "My wife hoped I would work at a place with flexible working hours even if the salary was a bit lower. The psychological support from my wife liking my company is significant." Kim Jin-hwan (37), also in the same group, said, "When my wife injured her back, I was able to freely take half-days off and work from home. I've changed jobs many times before, but I have no plans to leave now."

Companies grow with family-friendly management: "Sales have doubled every year"

Kim Sung-chul, CEO of Motion, is being interviewed by our publication at the office located in Yongin, Gyeonggi. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Kim Sung-chul, CEO of Motion, also believes that marriage and childcare policies have not just been welfare but have helped company operations. Kim said, "When employees don't feel pressured because of marriage or childcare, they feel psychological stability, which affects retention. It was important to retain IT personnel, and since 2019, when the company was founded, no developers have resigned despite frequent turnover in that field." Contrary to concerns that increasing flexible work and leave would reduce productivity, sales have doubled every year.

However, introducing family policies was not easy. Kim recalled, "When we first introduced family-friendly policies, there was skepticism among internal staff about whether they could really be used." Parental leave was a representative example. Kim said, "Employees need to see for themselves that taking parental leave does not result in disadvantages in performance evaluations or promotions. Evaluations must be at least the same as the previous year; otherwise, who would take leave?"

Kim cited "lack of trust" as the reason why work-family balance has not been smoothly established in companies. He said, "In Korea, entrepreneurs find it hard to be confident that introducing family-friendly policies will improve the company. Even if employees take all their leave, the company can maintain 100% productivity, and employees can increase their work engagement."