The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a fundamental transformation in the way South Koreans work. During the pandemic, many companies gradually introduced various forms of flexible work programs, such as working from home, remote work, and hybrid work models. The government further encouraged employers to allow their employees to work from home, in part through financial subsidies and incentives. This can be seen as a major shift in what is commonly perceived as a rigid Korean corporate culture. In fact, flexible work arrangements were introduced in South Korea as early as 1997 to reduce long
, but with little success. Just until recently, the number of South Korean
was less than one million. By August 2021, this number had more than quadrupled.
Working from home in South Korea
Flexible work arrangements in South Korea include various work options such as selective working hours, flextime, remote work (telework), and working from home. In recent years, the use of remote work and working from home have particularly seen a sharp rise. Between 2015 and 2021, the number of
employees who worked from home or remotely increased from about 66 thousand to 1.1 million – a 17-fold increase that occurred mainly in 2020 and 2021. While just 4.3 percent of employees who used flexible work arrangements
worked from home in 2018, this share increased more than sevenfold by August 2021.
Working from home was most prevalent in the finance and insurance as well as arts, sports, and recreation-related industries. According to a survey, most of the respondents
worked from home between 10 and 99 days in 2020.
Productivity and challenges
In a survey from 2020, around 85 percent of
office workers reported being satisfied with working from home. Many of them
particularly liked the fact that they do not have to worry about how they are perceived by others when working from home – an indirect pressure to conform to social norms, also called "
nunchi" in Korean. Furthermore, both employers and employees seemed to
find this form of work productive. However, communication difficulties or stress, such as the feeling of being constantly at work, were often perceived as disadvantages. It remains to be seen to what extent this trend will continue, as working from home is not yet as widespread in small and medium-sized enterprises as it is in large companies. Some companies have nevertheless already shown their willingness to make this trend the new normal.
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