POSCO to revert executives' four-day work week to five-day work week

POSCO, a major steel manufacturer that introduced a four-day work week every other week, the first in the Korean steel industry this year, has decided to revert to a five-day work week for executives only.
This is believed to be due to the need to shift to a stricter work system in response to the worsening market environment caused by the general economic slowdown and increased supply of steel products from China and Japan.
The company announced the change in working conditions for executives on the 6th via an internal online bulletin board. A POSCO official said, "This shows that the management team is working with a sense of crisis.
"Therefore, we have no plans to expand the five-day work week to general employees," he said. The four-day work week, known within the company as "Norugeum (Play Friday)," is a system that requires employees to work an average of 40 hours a week for two weeks.
The system is based on maintaining the same working hours, with employees working five days in the first week and four days in the following week. This system was agreed upon in November last year through a wage and collective agreement between the company's labor and management.
It is not applicable to steelworkers who work in shifts. Currently, in addition to POSCO, POSCO Holdings, POSCO Humans, and the POSCO Cheongam Foundation are also implementing the system.
The company plans to introduce the technology to POSCO International, POSCO E&C, and other companies in the second half of this year. Last year, the company posted sales of 38.772 trillion won (approximately 4.4391 trillion yen) and operating income of 1.2 trillion won (approximately 1.2 trillion yen).
The company recorded a profit of 2.83 trillion won (about 238.4 billion yen). This is an 8.7% decrease in sales and a 9.2% decrease in operating profit compared to the previous year.
The resulting flooding at steel mills affected the company's performance, causing a downturn.