Stanford University Research Team Surveys University Graduates in 40 Countries
South Koreans Work from Home Only 0.5 Days per Week, the Lowest Rate
"Cultural Differences at Play... Less Remote Work in Collectivist Societies"
The proportion of South Koreans working from home is the lowest among 40 countries worldwide. According to Yonhap News on April 21 (local time), citing the British weekly magazine The Economist, a research team from Stanford University surveyed 16,000 university graduates across 40 countries from November last year to February this year on the status of remote work after COVID-19. The results showed that South Koreans worked from home only 0.5 days per week.
Respondents reported working from home an average of 1.3 days per week, a level similar to the same period in 2023. By country, Canada had the highest average with 1.9 days, followed by the United Kingdom at 1.8 days, and the United States at 1.6 days. Germany and India each averaged about 1.5 days, Nigeria 1.5 days, Brazil 1.4 days, and Australia 1.3 days. In Asia, Japan averaged 0.7 days and China 0.6 days, both higher than South Korea.
The researchers explained that the differences in the proportion of remote work among countries are due to variations in industrial sectors, COVID-19 response strategies, and fiscal levels. However, they identified cultural differences as the most significant reason. The tendency to accept remote work varied depending on whether a society was individualistic or collectivist.
In fact, when the researchers plotted the relationship between the degree of collectivism and the proportion of remote work, they found a clear trend: the stronger the collectivism, the less remote work was practiced. South Korea was positioned at the far end of the chart, indicating both the strongest collectivism and the lowest proportion of remote work. When measuring the acceptance of remote work in 40 countries, workers in individualistic societies were more comfortable with remote work, and executives exercised less control.
Remote work has both advantages and disadvantages. One negative effect is that younger generations have fewer opportunities to meet colleagues and share ideas, which also reduces their chances to learn from experienced coworkers. On the positive side, remote work reduces commuting burdens, which in turn expands housing demand to more distant areas. In fact, in the Americas, since 2019?before COVID-19?the home price increase rate in 20 major cities was 13%, while suburban home prices reportedly soared by 30 to 50%.
However, there are also indicators that American companies have recently been reducing remote work. In February, The Washington Post reported that as American companies scale back remote work, employee office attendance has reached its highest level since COVID-19. According to real estate management company Kastle Systems, the average office occupancy rate (the proportion of office space filled) in 10 major U.S. cities during the last week of January was 54.2%. This was the highest level since March 2020.
In fact, Amazon this year implemented a policy requiring employees to work in the office five days a week for the first time since COVID-19. Andy Jassy, Amazon's CEO, stated when announcing the five-day office policy, "Looking back over the past five years since COVID-19, I believe there are many advantages to working together in the office," adding, "We have observed that team members can learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture more easily in the office." In addition, AT&T has ended its five-day remote work policy, and both JPMorgan and Dell Technologies began implementing a five-day office attendance system last month.
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