South Korea Tests Shorter Workweeks as Hospitals and Companies Weigh Benefits and Costs

More time off, with a price to pay

At Severance Hospital in Seoul, nurses testing a four day workweek receive three days off each week in exchange for a 10 percent pay reduction. The hospital says it has spent about 1.2 billion won on extra staffing across three years of trials. Nurses report better health, while evaluations point to fewer sick days, lower turnover and improvements in care.

In Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul and contains more than a quarter of South Korea's population, a different experiment would protect pay. A planned pilot at 50 private companies and public organizations would offer shorter working weeks, with the province covering wage gaps caused by the reduction in hours.

As of September 5, 2025, the five month provincial pilot is scheduled to begin in October, subject to final assembly approval. Together, the hospital trial and the provincial plan put a practical question at the center of South Korea's debate: how can people work less while employers maintain services and manage the bill?

South Korean employees worked an average of 1,865 hours in 2024, well above the typical level in advanced economies and higher than neighboring Japan. President Lee Jae myung's administration has pledged to bring working hours below the OECD average by 2030 and explore a four and a half day week. The OECD is a group of countries whose economic data provides a benchmark for comparisons.

Technology companies and large conglomerates are already trying flexible schedules. Their arrangements vary, and most are not strict four day weeks. The common aim is to give workers more control over their time while keeping output steady. Hospitals face an extra difficulty: patient care must continue every day, whatever schedule individual nurses follow.

What changed on the hospital wards?

Severance became the first hospital in South Korea to try a four day workweek for nurses. The pilot began in 2023 following an agreement between management and the labor union. Nurses rotate into the arrangement for six month periods, receiving three days off a week and accepting the pay reduction.

Nurses describe the extra time as a chance to recover from demanding shifts, spend more time with their families and pursue medical training. Some say they rely less on relatives for childcare. They also describe returning to the ward less tired and more attentive to details in patient care.

The Korea Worker Institute and Union Center evaluated the program and identified improvements in nurses' health and well being, medical service quality and teamwork. Its findings also pointed to lower turnover and fewer sick days. Turnover means staff leaving their jobs, which forces an employer to recruit and train replacements.

During the first year tracked, the resignation rate among Severance nurses with less than three years of experience fell from double digits to single digits. A follow up assessment presented at the National Assembly said the rate fell again in the second year, as the trial expanded to more wards at the main hospital in Sinchon and at Gangnam Severance.

The hospital labor union also reported fewer sick days per employee and improved survey scores for care quality. Additional nursing staff supported the lighter schedules, making it possible to give participants more rest while maintaining ward coverage.

The sequence of the experiments and policy targets is:

• 2023: Severance Hospital began its nursing trial after management and the labor union reached an agreement.
• First and second years of assessment: Resignation rates among nurses with less than three years of experience fell, and the trial expanded to additional wards.
• October 2025: Gyeonggi Province's five month pilot is scheduled to begin, pending final assembly approval.
• 2030: The national administration aims to reduce working hours below the OECD average.

Rest changes more than the rota

Kim Jong jin, director of the Korea Worker Institute and Union Center, briefed lawmakers on the wider effects of the Severance trial. He described changes in how nurses coordinated work, prevented errors and used their time away from the hospital for training and family responsibilities.

Kim said the effects reached beyond individual rest, extending to collaboration, care and life outside work:

"The four day workweek pilot program has shown positive effects across personal, organizational, and social areas, including work life balance, work collaboration, improvement in medical quality, reduction in patient safety risks, and increased opportunities for travel, education, and social relationships," Kim said.

For patients, the reported improvements involve more attentive nurses and smoother teamwork on the ward. For staff, they include time to sleep, recover, learn and maintain relationships. Observers also reported declining patient safety risks as nurses had more time to recover between shifts.

Hospital leaders recognize the gains while stressing the cost of keeping enough people on duty. Dr. Lee Kang young, the head of the hospital, said expansion would require support beyond the hospital's own budget and a structural plan to train and deploy more nurses.

Dr. Lee described outside support as a requirement for continuing the arrangement:

"For the four day workweek to be sustainable, institutional and financial support is absolutely necessary," Dr. Lee said.

Kwon Young sik, human resources director at Yonsei University Health System, Severance's parent system, estimated that moving nurses to a four day schedule costs roughly 100 million won per ward in labor expenses alone. Programs covering several wards can cost hundreds of millions of won over a year.

The hospital says its additional staffing expenditure reached about 1.2 billion won across three years of trials. Leaders want to retain and expand the model within a framework the hospital can afford. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has also stated that reducing nursing hours requires more personnel, with expansion supported by plans to train and retain more licensed staff.

Gyeonggi offers three routes to a shorter week

Gyeonggi Province's proposed pilot gives participating workplaces three options: a four day week every other week, a 35 hour week, or a half day every Friday. The province would cover wage gaps arising from shorter hours, addressing a central concern for smaller employers worried about added costs.

The different schedules allow organizations to match reduced hours to their work. A company could keep operating on five days while shortening each employee's week, or alternate the weeks in which staff receive an extra day off. The pilot aims to gather evidence about which sectors and job types adapt best and how much payroll support they need.

Officials set aside an initial budget of 250 million won as part of a plan to spend up to 10 billion won a year to expand the effort. The first trial is intended to last five months and cover 50 private companies and public organizations.

Provincial leaders say the goals include a better balance between work and personal life, higher quality of life and greater happiness. Over the longer term, they hope more time for families could help reverse the falling birth rate. The program would also test whether workplaces can reduce hours without lowering service levels.

Members of the provincial council from the conservative People Power Party criticized the rollout process, saying consultation had been insufficient. The Gyeonggi Provincial Government Civil Servants Union supported the pilot and urged wider adoption if the results show benefits.

The political debate reflects a broader divide. Public interest in a better balance between work and home is growing, while managers remain concerned about costs and coordination. The provincial subsidy places some of the financial burden on government while employers test how different schedules work in practice.

Offices and technology firms try a different approach

Information technology firms and startups have moved faster than healthcare in offering periodic Fridays off, shorter daily hours and flexible starting times. They use these arrangements to attract and retain skilled workers in a tight labor market, while seeking to protect output.

Samsung, SK Group and Kakao have introduced a mix of options that reduce commuting days or let teams choose when and where they work. Some arrangements change the location or timing of work rather than creating a standard four day week.

At Kakao VX, a digital services subsidiary, employee Lee Jae ho receives periodic Fridays off and slightly shorter hours during certain parts of the year. He says the schedule gives him more time for family and personal development while his team remains on target.

Lee has observed no loss of efficiency during work sprints when the group plans carefully and removes unnecessary meetings. A sprint is a defined period in which a team works toward a set of tasks or goals. His experience reflects the approach used in many office trials: set clear goals and reduce tasks that take time without adding much value.

Workers in Korean technology firms describe fewer distractions and more time to learn new skills. Employers also use remote work, variable hours and seasonal schedule adjustments to respond to employee needs while maintaining customer service across the week.

Office teams have more room than hospital wards to move some tasks between days. Their challenge is to coordinate people who may be absent at different times and keep projects moving. The range of schedules being tested shows why a shorter working week can take several forms.

What the British trials found

In the United Kingdom, a recent pilot run by the 4 Day Week Foundation and academic partners ended with all 17 participating employers continuing the model. Organizer Joe Ryle pointed to stronger retention, fewer sick days and revenue gains at several firms.

An earlier British trial in 2022, described as the largest to date, involved 61 companies. Most kept the new schedule, while employees reported less burnout and a better balance between work and personal life. Burnout is the exhaustion that can develop when work pressures remain intense for a long period.

Ryle, campaign director at the 4 Day Week Foundation, argues that shorter schedules can support workers and businesses when leaders remove wasted effort and focus on results rather than time spent at work. Describing the latest British group, he said:

"Staff well being, business performance, productivity, job retention, and recruitment all improved, with businesses and employees thriving," Ryle said.

Companies testing shorter weeks in the UK, Australia and South Africa have reported reduced burnout and fewer sick days. Interest in these arrangements accelerated after the pandemic, with younger workers in particular placing a higher value on the balance between work and personal life than earlier generations did.

A four day week can mean different things

The international debate includes a model known as 100 80 100: employees receive 100 percent of their pay, work 80 percent of their previous time and commit to maintaining 100 percent of their output. Its central task is to complete the same useful work in fewer hours.

Severance's arrangement includes a 10 percent pay reduction, while Gyeonggi's planned subsidy would cover wage gaps. Both reduce working time, but the financial terms for employees differ. Other approaches concentrate existing hours into fewer days.

Belgium allows employees to work their standard weekly hours over four days if they choose. This is a compressed week: fewer working days, but longer days and the same total hours. The change does not cut overtime.

The United Arab Emirates moved most government staff to a four day week, setting a wider norm for private firms. Iceland's large public sector trial helped spur broad adoption of shorter working hours across its economy.

Microsoft Japan reported a 40 percent increase in revenue per employee during its trial, although it did not make the change permanent. Revenue per employee measures how much money a business brings in relative to the number of people it employs.

For South Korea, these experiences provide practical benchmarks, particularly for office work. Clear goals, better processes and tighter meeting policies are recurring features of arrangements intended to maintain output while reducing hours. Each model also makes different demands on workers, managers and budgets.

Why employers worry about output and coverage

South Korean employers repeatedly raise two concerns: productivity and cost. Productivity means how much useful work gets done with the time and resources available. Managers fear shorter schedules could slow projects or complicate coordination when team members take different days off.

Hospitals, hospitality businesses and emergency services face a more direct staffing problem. They need people in place throughout their operating hours. When each employee works less, an employer may need additional staff or more overtime to maintain coverage.

Assessments of flexible work also describe stress among some employees who feel they must squeeze five days of tasks into four. Employers whose trials work well tend to remove low value work, redesign jobs and invest in collaboration tools that help colleagues pass responsibilities between them.

Customer needs shape the choice of schedule. A business serving clients five to seven days a week may favor a 35 hour week spread across five days or rotating Fridays off rather than closing on one fixed day. Essential services can also try rotating shorter days or alternate Fridays for different teams.

A large survey in Singapore found that 69 percent of employers considered a four day workweek feasible and potentially helpful for productivity, but only 18 percent planned to try it in the near term. The gap illustrates how many employers see potential while remaining cautious about implementation.

Human resources specialists in Singapore stress planning, cultural change within firms and adaptation based on feedback. Korean workplaces face similar practical demands. Several companies outside healthcare have shown that creative staffing and clear measures of performance can support shorter weeks in jobs serving customers, while managers warn of difficult transitions when teams and roles are unprepared.

Long hours put family life under pressure

South Korea's standard workweek is capped at 52 hours, comprising 40 regular hours and up to 12 hours of overtime. The cap was introduced nationwide in 2018 to curb extreme overwork. National averages remain high, and weekends often include extra duties.

The average of 1,865 hours worked in 2024 helps explain why reduced schedules have become a prominent policy issue. Long working days are associated with health costs, exhaustion and difficulties balancing family responsibilities.

Reformers argue that long schedules make raising children harder and weaken the creative thinking needed in an economy built around services and technology. More recovery time can give workers greater room for family and community life.

Gyeonggi's goals connect those daily pressures to its concern about the falling birth rate. Provincial leaders hope that improving quality of life and making family time easier to secure will support happier households. Employers, meanwhile, may benefit from retaining staff, particularly in fields where younger workers frequently leave.

The Severance trial brings those goals down to concrete choices: a nurse can spend less time relying on relatives for childcare, attend training or recover between shifts. Its pay reduction also shows that some workers are willing to trade income for time, while the provincial plan tests whether government support can protect wages.

The next decisions concern money and staffing

Gyeonggi's planned October start is the next major milestone, subject to final assembly approval. The five month trial is intended to produce data on costs, productivity and employee health across 50 workplaces. Those findings would guide decisions on support, expansion and the relative benefits of different schedules.

The national administration's 2030 target could involve a combination of shorter weeks, flexible hours and enforcement of overtime limits. Large companies are expected to continue experimenting with mixed arrangements suited to project cycles and customer needs.

Hospitals require dedicated funding and training programs if lighter schedules are to expand while maintaining coverage. Severance's experience places improved health and retention alongside a substantial staffing bill. Its leaders' request for institutional and financial support is central to the next stage of the discussion.

South Korea's experiments are moving from testing the basic idea to designing policy around it. Continued gains in health, retention and steady productivity would strengthen the case for expansion. Costs that prove difficult to manage would require more focused support. Workers, employers and public authorities are already confronting those choices in wards, offices and provincial government.

The Bottom Line

• Severance Hospital began its nursing trial in 2023, offering three days off each week with a 10 percent pay reduction.
• Evaluations reported better health, fewer sick days, improved care and falling resignation rates among nurses with less than three years of experience.
• The hospital says it spent about 1.2 billion won on extra staffing across three years and needs outside support to expand.
• Gyeonggi's planned pilot covers 50 workplaces and offers three schedules, with the province covering wage gaps.
• The five month provincial trial is scheduled to begin in October 2025, pending final assembly approval.
• South Korean employees worked an average of 1,865 hours in 2024. The administration aims to bring hours below the OECD average by 2030.
• British trials and other international experiments provide examples of improved retention and well being, while Korean employers weigh productivity, coordination and staffing costs.