Samyang Foods Abolishes Special Extended Work Hours...Improves Working Environment

Applicable to Four Plants Including Miryang and Wonju
Transition to Normal Operations Within 49.5 Hours Per Week

Samyang Foods will abolish special extended work hours starting this month and begin improving its working environment. The company had maintained long working hours to cope with increased export volumes, but with the stabilization of automated facilities, it has determined that existing staff and regular working hours are now sufficient to meet production demands.

According to the food industry on August 5, Samyang Foods will discontinue special extended work hours at its four production bases?Wonju, Iksan, and Miryang Plants 1 and 2?starting from August 9. The company stated, “With the expansion of production facilities now complete, we can respond to export demands without the need for extended work hours.”

Samyang Foods had operated a “two-shift day-and-night rotation and special extended work” system, obtaining monthly overtime consent forms from production workers to support the expansion of K-food exports, led by Buldak Bokkeum Myeon. Special extended work hours are a system exceptionally permitted with employee consent and approval from the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Samyang Foods explained, “We have maintained a work system within 49.5 hours per week in accordance with the 52-hour workweek system introduced in 2018,” adding, “During periods when the workload exceeded normal levels, such as during export surges, we implemented special extended work hours with government approval.”

Some employees, who worked night shifts for five to six days a week, reported accumulated fatigue and called for improvements in working conditions. In response, Samyang Foods is also considering an overhaul of its existing work system. The company stated, “Some employees prefer shift work due to salary considerations,” and added, “We plan to gather all opinions and improve the system to create a flexible and sustainable working environment.”

Samyang Foods has made large-scale facility investments to support export growth. This includes the expansion of the Wonju Plant (90 billion KRW), establishment of Miryang Plants 1 and 2 (420 billion KRW), and construction of a plant in China (201.4 billion KRW). The Miryang Plant 2, completed in June, has a total floor area of 34,576 square meters and can produce 830 million packs of ramen annually. Combined with Plant 1, the total annual capacity reaches 1.58 billion packs, which exceeds half of Samyang Foods’ annual export volume. Over the past ten years, Samyang Foods’ exports have increased more than 45-fold, from 30 billion KRW to 1.3359 trillion KRW. The company stated, “We will continue to strive for transparent management and the creation of a sustainable production environment.”