According to Business Insider, at a time when many companies around the world are starting to implement a 4-day work week, the Korean giant is going against the grain - at least at the executive level.
Accordingly, Samsung Group will apply a 6-day work week schedule to directors of all member units, as early as this week. The information was confirmed by Korean media.
The tech giant's sudden move comes as the company faces a number of business headwinds, including rising oil prices, high borrowing costs, and a sharp depreciation of the won. The Korea Economic Daily article described the company's status as "emergency mode."
Employees at Samsung headquarters in Suwon, South Korea. (Photo: CNN)
" Given that the performance of our major units - including Samsung Electronics - fell short of expectations in 2023, we will introduce a six-day workweek with executives to warn of the crisis and make all-out efforts to overcome this crisis, " a Samsung Group executive told The Korea Economic Daily.
The new work schedule is effective immediately across most of Samsung’s technology divisions, while the company’s financial services divisions are expected to follow suit in the near future, the report said. Some executives in other divisions have volunteered to work six days a week since the start of the year, the newspaper said.
Samsung Electronics executives will have the option of working on Saturdays or Sundays. Employees below the executive level will continue to work five days a week.
Samsung's consolidated revenue in 2023 was 258.94 trillion won (about $193.98 billion), down 14.32% year-on-year. Operating profit was 6.57 trillion won (about $4.92 billion), down 84.85% year-on-year.
Despite the disappointing 2023 results, there has been a bright spot for the company recently. IDC reported that Samsung regained the top spot in global smartphone sales in the first quarter – a title it briefly lost to Apple in the final quarter of 2023.
Samsung has yet to release its first-quarter earnings results for 2024 (it is expected to be released on April 30). In its most recent earnings results, the company said it was cautiously optimistic about a recovery in smartphone demand in 2024. The company is expected to benefit from rising semiconductor prices, Reuters recently reported.
South Korea is known for its intense work culture; according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the average worker will spend 1,901 hours on the job in 2022, ranking fifth among the organization’s 38 member countries. Last year, the country pushed for a 69-hour workweek, but the plan was scrapped after protests from young workers and unions.
Source
Comment (0)