South Korea will start subsidizing a 4 1/2-day workweek for small and midsized companies from January, offering between 200,000 won and 800,000 won ($136-$543) per worker, as the government accelerates it push to cut among the longest working hours in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
To support the rollout, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Wednesday that a 27.6 billion won budget has been approved to cover labor and operating costs, with an additional 1.7 billion won set aside for consulting services for firms seeking to adopt the system.
Under the plan, companies with fewer than 50 employees can receive up to 600,000 won per worker each quarter, plus 800,000 won for each new hire. Firms with 50 to 300 employees are eligible for subsidies for up to 100 workers.
“Eligibility will be reviewed by employment insurance investigators to prevent abuse,” a ministry official said, adding that the program is designed to ease the financial burden of shortening working hours without cutting wages.
The initiative is a key plank of President Lee Jae Myung’s labor agenda, which aims to bring Korea’s annual working hours below the OECD average by 2030 and eventually move toward a four-day week. Koreans worked an average 1,859 hours in 2024, which was 142 hours higher than the OECD average.
A survey of 13,000 Korean workers released Thursday by the workplace app Blind showed 78 percent support the 4 1/2-day workweek. But many companies view the change as premature, particularly as the 52-hour weekly cap has yet to be fully enforced.
The Korea Employers Federation warned that with Korea’s hourly labor productivity at $45 — roughly 80 percent of the OECD average — shortening work hours without parallel productivity gains could hurt competitiveness and widen inequality. The group stressed the need for more flexible scheduling and efficiency improvements before further reductions in working time.
Belgium has already legalized a four-day optional workweek, while the United States, Japan and Taiwan are taking a more cautious approach to shortening work hours.
forestjs@heraldcorp.com
