Several South Korean companies have shared how they raised employee engagement and productivity — not by extending working hours, but by introducing four-and-a-half-day workweeks, flexible schedules and fairer performance evaluation systems.
The cases illustrate a broader argument: that shifting away from "quantitative growth" driven by long hours toward a workplace culture of focused, high-density work can sharpen a company's competitive edge.
The Korea Labor Foundation held the 2026 Fifth Workplace Innovation Case-Sharing Forum on Thursday at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju, under the theme "From Time and Labor Input to Value Immersion: A Paradigm Shift for Improving Work Motivation and Productivity."
The forum featured workplace innovation consulting cases from three companies — Uni Information, Forelink and DH Global — conducted by the Korea Productivity Center (KPC).
Uni Information, a wholesale distributor of mechanical equipment, adopted a 4.5-day workweek. The move expanded and formalized what had been a once-a-month early-departure policy, aiming to reduce working hours while strengthening the company's ability to attract talent.
After conducting company-wide employee interviews and team meetings, Uni Information designed department-specific arrangements: a uniform two-hour reduction every Friday, a rotation-based voluntary selection system, and reduced working hours on weekdays other than Monday. The company also overhauled its work practices by introducing focused-work periods, expanding hiring and upgrading production equipment. The shortened-hours scheme is now in effect company-wide, and Uni Information is set to receive government subsidies through the "Work-Life Balance Plus 4.5 Project" to offset the reduction in working hours.
Forelink, a network equipment design firm, cut overtime by nearly half through tailored flexible-work arrangements. The company had long relied on overtime and night shifts due to the deadline-driven nature of its work, but it analyzed workloads and peak periods by department and introduced flexible scheduling and leave-compensation systems suited to both regular and shift workers.
As a result, the annual leave utilization rate rose 56 percentage points, from 29 percent to 85 percent. Average monthly overtime per worker fell about 49 percent, from 38.4 hours in 2024 to 19.5 hours last year.
DH Global, an electronic components manufacturer, overhauled its performance evaluation system. To address employee dissatisfaction with existing appraisal and promotion criteria, the company introduced a framework that weighs both departmental results and individual contributions, along with a 360-degree evaluation process involving supervisors, peers, subordinates and the employees themselves.
After the overhaul, the turnover rate dropped from 5.05 percent in 2024 to 2.1 percent last year — a 58.4 percent decline in a single year.
The foundation said companies must shift their approach to productivity — moving away from simply adding more working hours and headcount toward measuring how focused and efficiently employees work — to keep pace with rapidly changing business conditions.
"These are cases where fair, job-centered evaluation and flexible work arrangements suited to the nature of each role drove both productivity gains and employee engagement," said Park Jong-pil, secretary-general of the Korea Labor Foundation. "Breaking free from a productivity model centered on time and labor input, and embracing workplace innovation built on focused, high-density work, is a new solution that allows companies and workers to grow together in a fast-changing environment."
fact0514@heraldcorp.com
