Samsung is clearly taking its drive for innovation seriously, in order to compete with the likes of Apple and to cement its position as global tech / electronics leader. After spending $1Bn on a new innovation center in Silicon Valley, the tech giant is now set to introduce a radical new work policy in Korea, to spur creative thinking.

Samsung will adopt a four-hour flexible working system company-wide on the condition that its employees fulfill the requirement of working 40 hours a week: Samsung currently employs 90,000 people in Korea alone.
An official at the tech company said that “as of October, all divisions at Samsung Electronics will introduce a ‘voluntary commuting system,’ which permits staff to work four hours in a day.” The official added “Samsung would be the first conglomerate to systematically ensure working four hours a day.”
Samsung Electronics, which named the system “voluntary commuting system,” has already run a pilot program at the DMC R&D Center in Suwon, near Seoul, and at a domestic semiconductor R&D institute and has been weighing when to expand the flexible working system company-wide. The concern that the system could be exploited by some workers and damage the discipline at workplaces was outdone by the expectation that a heightened flexibility would dramatically improve creative thinking among employees.
Samsung Electronics decided to designate the first group of workers to be subject to the new system among its staff in charge of R&D or design at all divisions including TV, home appliance, and mobile business. As a result, the number of employees eligible for the flexible working will double from 5,000 to 10,000. The company plans to steadily increase the number as it expands the working system company-wide.

Edited from original post on MKNews

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