Four-day workweeks may be all the rage, but one major tech company is going in the opposite direction.
Samsung is introducing a six-day week for all executives after some of the company's core businesses delivered below-expected financial results last year.
A Samsung Group executive told a Korean news agency: “Considering that the performance of our major units, including Samsung Electronics Co., has fallen short of expectations in 2023, we are introducing the six-day work week for executives to “To convey a sense of the crisis.” make every effort to overcome this crisis.”
Lower performance combined with other economic uncertainties such as high borrowing costs have prompted the South Korean company to enter “emergency mode,” according to The Korea Economic Daily.
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According to the report, executives across Samsung Group's business units will be affected, including those in sales and manufacturing.
Samsung had its worst fiscal year in over a decade in 2023, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that net profit fell 73% in the fourth quarter. The company also lost its top spot in the global smartphone market to Apple in the same quarter, but regained it this year.
Even if employees below management level are not yet required to work weekends, some may follow the unwritten example of their superiors. Finally, The Korea Economic Daily reports that executives in some Samsung departments have been voluntarily working six days a week since January before the company decided to implement the six-day week.
The entrepreneur reached out to Samsung's US newsroom and asked whether this news affects executives around the world, including in the US, or whether it only affects employees in Korea. Samsung did not immediately respond.
Research on the relationship between hours worked and performance shows that working more does not necessarily increase productivity.
For example, a Stanford project found that overloading leads to lower overall performance. Average productivity drops due to stress, lack of sleep and other factors “as the additional hours [worked] provide no benefit (and are even harmful),” the study says.
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Longer working hours can also have long-term health effects. The World Health Organization has found that working more than 55 hours per week reduces life expectancy and increases the risk of stroke by 35%.
The same 55-hour week leads to a 17% higher risk of heart disease, according to the same study.