Samsung Mandates Six-Day Workweek For Executives Amid Profit Decline

The tech conglomerate experienced a 73% decline in net profit during its most recent quarter, attributed partly to increasing oil prices, elevated borrowing expenses, and geopolitical complexities.

Samsung has instructed its executives to adopt a six-day workweek amid its poorest earnings performance in over a decade. The shift from the conventional five-day workweek to a six-day one is intended to introduce a heightened sense of urgency within the workforce, as per reports from The Korea Economic Daily.

The adoption of a six-day workweek will be applied uniformly to executives across all sectors within the company. According to the report, implementation of this new rule may start as early as this week. Executives will be given the flexibility to select either Saturday or Sunday as their additional working day.

A Samsung Group executive told the Korean publication, “Considering that performance of our major units, including Samsung Electronics Co., fell short of expectations in 2023, we are introducing the six-day work week for executives to inject a sense of crisis and make all-out efforts to overcome this crisis.”

The report characterised Samsung's current state as "emergency mode." The tech conglomerate experienced a 73 per cent decline in net profit during its most recent quarter, attributed partly to increasing oil prices, elevated borrowing expenses, and geopolitical complexities. Furthermore, its operating profit plummeted by 85 per cent last year, marking the company's most challenging performance since 2009.

As reported by The Korea Economic Daily, the new schedule has been promptly enforced within the technology division. The finance division is anticipated to adopt it shortly. Additionally, numerous other divisions have voluntarily operated on a six-day workweek since January.

The tech sector is currently experiencing significant turmoil, dealing with several challenges and uncertainties. Geopolitical tensions and economic fluctuations have injected instability within the industry. Companies are grappling with issues such as supply chain disruptions and the aftereffects of the global pandemic. Every other day, there is an announcement of some major layoffs in the sector.