TechSamsung adopts six-day workweek for managers amid financial woes

Samsung adopts six‑day workweek for managers amid financial woes

Samsung is introducing a six-day workweek for management staff.

Images source: © Licensor | Samsung

23 April 2024 17:34

Samsung has decided to increase its managerial staff's workweek to six days. This move comes as the company faces financial results that have not met management's expectations. In doing so, the Korean powerhouse is bucking the trend seen across much of the market, which is shifting towards reducing the workweek.

Direct reports from South Korea indicate that Samsung is progressively increasing the working hours for its management staff. Many managers across the conglomerate's diverse sectors, including the construction wing (Samsung C&T) and heavy industry division, have already transitioned to working six days a week.

Notably, management within Samsung E&A – an engineering firm specialising in cutting-edge technology – are also adhering to this six-day schedule. Further extensions of working hours are anticipated in other departments such as Samsung Life Insurance, which is part of the insurance sector.

Some company departments have seen managers voluntarily opting for a six-day working week from the start of this year.

The driving force behind this directive is the conglomerate's disappointing financial performance. In 2023, profits for Samsung Electronics plummeted by 95% compared to the year before, marking a 15-year low for the division. The situation is similarly dire within the semiconductor production wing.

An array of economic challenges has compounded Samsung's troubles. Rising oil prices have inflated the conglomerate's operating expenses, while a depreciating South Korean won has eroded profit margins.

Samsung's decision starkly contrasts prevailing labour market trends, with many large corporations moving towards a four-day workweek. Nevertheless, there are indications that other South Korean giants, such as the telecommunications and energy conglomerate SK Group, Hyundai and Doosan, are considering the implications of adopting a six-day workweek.