"Like College Students' Free Periods, Workplaces Too" Large Corporations Introduce Flexible Work to Prevent Career Breaks [K Population Strategy]

(10) Active Use of Autonomous and Remote Work Systems During Childcare Period
Flexible Adjustment of Working Hours and Locations Possible
Popular for Preventing Career Breaks and Income Reduction

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 result from complex factors, it is important to ensure that burdens at work do not become obstacles that make people hesitate to have children. Asia Economy has visited companies leading family-friendly policies to identify the factors that helped these systems stabilize, and plans to explore multi-faceted solutions with companies that face practical challenges. Through this, we encourage change starting from companies and analyze the government's role in enabling this. We listen to voices emphasizing that company culture and atmosphere that reduce psychological burdens are more critical than financial support, and present alternatives from various perspectives.

# "It was a time when I seriously considered quitting. I felt that this was my limit and experienced a lot of frustration. Just then, the company introduced a system and my team leader helped me utilize it, which allowed me to continue my career without interruption."

Kim Jisuk, a 17-year veteran employee and Senior Manager in charge of SC panel process development at LG Display, has managed to juggle both work and childcare over the past two years by utilizing company policies. In 2022, when her son was four years old, she decided to quit and even had a meeting with her supervisor. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she could not find childcare options and had been relying heavily on her mother, but that had its limits. At that moment, she encountered the ‘Parental Autonomy Work System’.

# POSCO became the first domestic company in 2020 to introduce the ‘Parental Remote Work System.’ Among employees who used this system over three years, about 20% were men. Furthermore, including this system, the percentage of employees with children under eight years old who used childbirth and childcare support programs increased annually from 23.8% in 2019 to 38.4% in 2023. This means that about four out of ten employees are benefiting from progressive company policies.

[Image source=Getty Images]

The biggest challenge for working moms and dads balancing work and childcare is coordinating time and place. It is common to rush from the office to pick up children from daycare or school, or to be unable to come to work because a child suddenly falls ill. Since adjusting working hours and locations is difficult, many parents end up choosing career breaks and consequent income reduction.

Managing Both Childcare Pickup and Regular Meetings... LGD’s ‘Parental Autonomy Work System’

Introduced by LG Display in November 2021, this system is available to employees raising children in elementary school grade 6 or below. Once applied for annually, it can be used throughout the year. Similar to how university students arrange their schedules to have long breaks between morning and evening classes, employees can build a hybrid work system mixing office attendance and remote work according to their personal work and childcare situations. The system allows working from home, coming to the office, and returning after leaving. Since it is a system where employees work full daily hours instead of taking leave, they can secure childcare time while working, resulting in high satisfaction for both the company and colleagues.

Using this system, Manager Kim was able to handle her son’s daycare pickup and attend a regular 4 p.m. meeting without quitting her job. Not only her but many working parents have been able to participate directly in childcare by utilizing this system. A couple working at LG Display both used this system to send their children to educational institutions they wanted without relying on childcare helpers. They were also able to personally care for their children during school vacations without relying on grandparents or institutions, preventing childcare gaps.

Manager Kim said, "Since this system can be flexibly used according to the child’s age, I hope it continues steadily," adding, "Childcare is no longer a gender issue, and such systems are essential for parents living in a dual-income era." When asked if she hoped for additional systems, she replied, "Since good systems already exist, it would be even better if leaders actively encourage and support employees to use them."

LG Display is expanding flexible work systems to all employees, not limited to working moms and dads. They also use selective working hours allowing anyone to adjust their commute times as needed, and satellite offices that reduce commuting time. This enables flexible adjustment of working hours and locations regardless of childcare status, significantly reducing the ‘pressure’ often felt when using work-family balance systems.

Even at male-dominated POSCO, remote work during childcare prevents income loss

POSCO introduced the ‘Parental Remote Work System’ in 2020, the first among domestic companies, to encourage childbirth and prevent career breaks during childcare. Employees with children aged eight or younger or in second grade or below in elementary school can apply for remote work of 4 hours (half-day), 6 hours, or 8 hours (full day) depending on their work conditions. Full-day remote work can be used for up to 4 years per child, and 4 or 6-hour remote work can be used for up to 2 years during employment. For full-day remote work during childcare, salary, benefits, and promotions are applied equally as for regular employees.

POSCO is a steel company with over 90% male employees. Although Korean society still places more childcare burden on women, the company considered that male employees also face significant challenges and established this system. Even economically stable couples inevitably worry about career breaks and income reduction after childbirth and childcare, so the company sought ways to prevent this.

Among employees who used the parental remote work system from 2020 to 2023, about 20% were men. The company stated that the percentage of employees with children under eight years old using childbirth and childcare support programs, including this system, has increased annually from 23.8% in 2019 to 38.4% in 2023.

After dropping children off, starting work at 10 a.m. and leaving at 6 p.m., maintaining productivity and salary... Shinsaegae’s secret

"Originally, it was a 30% Starbucks discount, but now it’s overwhelmingly the nine-to-five schedule." This is a joke among Shinsaegae Group employees about the company’s best welfare. The 35-hour workweek introduced in 2018 applies to all employees but has been especially helpful for employees with childcare responsibilities. By working from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., employees gained more than an hour of free time daily, greatly reducing the stigma of ‘missing work because of kids’.

By adjusting commuting hours by just one hour to ‘10 a.m. to 6 p.m.’ or ‘8 a.m. to 4 p.m.,’ employees can easily accompany their children to and from school or daycare. Lee Youngdong, head of Shinsaegae’s HR team, explained, "At headquarters, adjusting working hours by one hour, such as 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is used not only by employees with childcare but also by those with various personal reasons like residential location, so it is not treated specially. The 35-hour week is standard, but if more time is needed, employees can use the ‘flexible work system’ allowing 25 to 30 hours per week. Currently, about 30 employees use this."

Shinsaegae’s establishment of the 35-hour workweek offers many lessons to companies attempting to introduce family-friendly systems. From the company’s perspective, reducing working hours by one hour without cutting salaries meant productivity had to increase. Initially, there was skepticism among employees, with questions like ‘When do we get the work done?’ and ‘How can stores like Shinsaegae Department Store or E-Mart, which have customers, close early?’ However, now employees naturally leave their desks at 5 p.m. The department stores operate on a duty system, and E-Mart uses shift work to align working hours.

At the beginning, the company invested a lot of energy to establish the system. They introduced the ‘Pomodoro’ technique, working for 25 minutes and resting for 5 minutes, and improved reporting and meeting cultures to reduce unnecessary time consumption. Paper reports were limited to one page when necessary, and timers were introduced in meeting rooms to ensure conclusions were reached within set times. As a result, concentration during working hours increased and productivity was secured.

Previously, employees often failed to leave by 6 p.m., and work would drag on after dinner with phrases like ‘Let’s eat first and then work.’ Now, with earlier finishing times, employees can use their evenings as personal time, which has eased the burden for those balancing childcare. The company also saw a noticeable drop in turnover rates, and new and experienced applicants increasingly think of Shinsaegae as a preferred workplace because of the 35-hour workweek.

Park Junmo, head of Shinsaegae EX (Employee Experience & Corporate Culture) team, said, "Initially, department stores divided shifts for opening and closing, but as demand for life with evenings grew, we adjusted to a duty system after gathering opinions. If we had not tried because we thought it wouldn’t work, the current establishment would not exist," he emphasized.

Special Coverage Team 'K Population Strategy - Gender Equality is the Answer'

Reporters: Kim Yuri, Lee Hyunju, Jung Hyunjin, Boo Aeri, Gong Byungseon, Park Juni, Song Seungseop
Editor: Kim Pilsoo, Economic & Financial Editor