February 20, 2024
SEOUL – Gangwon Province is making moves to implement a four-day workweek, as Governor Kim Jin-tae aims to prepare relevant policy alternatives.
“The recently discussed four-day workweek will be a significant opportunity for the state,” said Kim at the plenary session of the Gangwon State Council last Wednesday. “With a four-day workweek in the future, the state will garner the attention and interest of the entire nation,” Kim added.
Major companies such as Samsung Electronics, Posco, SK, and others have already been piloting a 4-day workweek, said Kim, emphasizing the global trend of formalizing the four-day workweek plan. The governor touched on the initial skepticism seen during the early 2000s when the transition to a five-day workweek was being discussed. The four-day workweek will be viewed as a natural progression, added Kim, acknowledging that it might take time to implement the change but that it will become an eventual societal norm.
“The four-day workweek will soon lead to an expansion of leisure time,” the governor emphasized, expressing anticipation that it would contribute to an influx of residents, a boom in secondary housing, and overall stimulate the local real estate market.