Kakao mulls revamp in remote work system

[Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

South Korea’s platform giant Kakao Corp. that operates KakaoTalk, a messaging app that almost all Koreans use, plans to revamp its overall work system that encouraged employees to work from home for nearly six months this year.

According to multiple sources from the information technology industry on Thursday, Kakao is in talks with its labor union and employee consultative body over a new work arrangement that will be applied from January. The company plans to soon present a new system on its in-house network.

Kakao has been offering a hybrid-type working environment to its employees for nearly half a year that allows them to work both in the office and at home. Under the pilot system, employees can work fully remote.

Kakao, however, plans to amend part of the system from next month.

Hong Eun-taek, chief executive officer of Kakao, has stressed the need to change the company’s overall working arrangement in an internal open talk event with employees last month. He is known to have encouraged employees to come into the office, although enough time will be given to employees to adapt to the change.

Industry insiders noted that Kakao is reviewing the option of offering working arrangement options to employees and employees choosing whether to work remotely or not according to individual circumstances, which is what it is like at another platform giant Naver Corp.

Naver offers two options to employees - to fully work remotely or come into the office three times or more a week - which is eligible for six months.

Kakao’s review comes as criticisms mounted over lax management after a massive service outage in October due to a fire at its data center. Sources noted that Hong may have doubts about the efficiency in remote work system.

Major game publishers like NCSoft Corp., Nexon Co., and Netmarble Corp. offered employees to work from home during Covid but they switched back to in office work in June.