75% of S.Korean firms to continue remote work scheme

Seoul, Dec 16 (IANS) Most South Korean businesses that have adopted at-home remote work programs due to Covid-19 plan to continue the policy even after the end of the pandemic, a poll revealed on Thursday.

In the recent Labor Ministry survey conducted on 620 businesses currently using remote work policies, 75.2 per cent said they plan to either continue the scheme at the current level or partially downscale it when the pandemic ends, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The poll said 11.3 per cent of businesses intend to stop the remote work scheme when the pandemic ends.

Of the companies willing to maintain the scheme at the current level, 53.6 per cent said they saw no difference in productivity compared with that under at-office work, while 20.5 per cent cited the strong intention to do so by management.

More than two-thirds of workers at such companies expressed hope to continue remote work after the pandemic.

Mostly working parents with young children preferred the remote work system, according to the Ministry.