Gathering Diverse Opinions on 'Working Hours Reduction' from IT Industry Stakeholders
Organized to Hear Voices from the Field and Listen to Issues and Difficulties
Gyeonggi Province, which is promoting the introduction of a 4.5-day workweek next year, held discussions with companies to explore ways to spread a culture of work-life balance and improve productivity through reduced working hours.
Gyeonggi Province held the "Gyeonggi Province 4.5-Day Workweek Company Meeting" on the 20th at the Gyeonggi-do Economic Science Promotion Agency Creative Economy Innovation Center. Photo by Gyeonggi Province
On the 20th, Gyeonggi Province held the ‘Gyeonggi Province 4.5-Day Workweek Corporate Meeting’ at the Creative Economy Innovation Center of the Gyeonggi Institute of Economy and Science. The meeting was attended by Oh Hu-seok, Deputy Governor for Administration of Gyeonggi Province, representatives from the Gyeonggi Job Foundation, and IT company officials. The meeting was organized to introduce the pilot project of the 4.5-day workweek that Gyeonggi Province is preparing and to hear voices from the field.
Lee Jeong-nam, director of Bycom Co., Ltd., said, “Once the 4.5-day workweek is introduced and implemented, it will be difficult to revert working hours to the previous state,” adding, “It would be helpful if continuous support measures such as employee welfare, rather than temporary support, are prepared.” Moon Su-jin, CEO of AIMS, emphasized the importance of guaranteeing employees’ work-life balance, saying, “Creating a childcare environment through various systems such as telecommuting, flexible working hours, and the 4.5-day workweek is a positive change.”
Gyeonggi Province is currently conducting a ‘Policy Design Research Service for Policy Experiment on Reducing Working Hours in Small and Medium Enterprises’ to prepare measures for realizing the 4.5-day workweek pilot project. Through this, they plan to specify corporate awareness surveys on reduced working hours, labor environment analysis, and pilot project implementation plans.
Additionally, to gather opinions from various sectors, a public hearing involving provincial council members and experts was held on October 2. On October 30, a meeting was held with companies in the manufacturing sector, and on November 19, a meeting was held with companies in the northern Gyeonggi region.
Oh Hu-seok, Deputy Governor for Administration of Gyeonggi Province, said, “As the job paradigm changes with the development of advanced technology, voices calling for the introduction of the 4.5-day workweek are growing,” adding, “We will listen carefully to voices from the field and identify potential problems that may arise when introducing the system in advance to seek effective ways to reduce working hours.”
Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province will implement a pilot project of the ‘4.5-day workweek’ without wage cuts next year targeting 50 private companies in the province and some public institutions under the province. Employees and employers can agree to reduce working hours by choosing one of the following: ① biweekly 4-day workweek, ② 35-hour workweek, or ③ half-day work on Fridays every week. The public sector will support wages needed for the reduction in working hours.
The ‘0.5 & 0.75 Jobs’ project without career interruption is a policy that complements the shortcomings of existing low birthrate measures such as parental leave and birth support allowances. The ‘0.5 job’ refers to a job with 4 hours of work per day (20 hours per week, working 2 to 3 days per week), and the ‘0.75 job’ refers to a job with 6 hours of work per day (30 hours per week, working 3 to 4 days per week). The province plans to conduct a pilot project targeting family-friendly companies among public institutions and private companies.
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