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Vaccinations and public health routines must continue, and everyone should remain cautious and vigilant. However, I don't hear enough talk about how the pandemic has created a new context for work. Remote work is something I'll miss, and it's something I hope Korea, among other countries, should work to capitalize on in many contexts.
I've read that Korean companies are experimenting with remote work, and some have created the idea of working one day from home or remotely. Hybrid work routines may appear more as a norm than just for working moms or for those with health conditions and vulnerabilities.
Medical services, the production of automobiles and many other goods, and other standard types of work don't suit a remote environment. Most economies around the world will continue to use "on-site" employees and management in some form. However, many other forms of work aren't dependent on a particular place and space, let alone management being done by the eye.
In 2020, Don Southerton wrote in "Branding in Asia" about South Korea's national use of "smart work" and asked whether it might become a permanent alternative. A recent FlexJobs survey signaled that two in three workers want a remote work choice. Kweillun Ellingrud recently wrote in Forbes magazine that the pandemic has hastened remote transactions, automation, and the use of remote work, including virtual conferencing.
Seventy percent of surveyed companies have created remote work models, and 70 percent of workers say remote work is a "must" for them. Ellingrud cites a McKinsey Global Institute study showing that nearly 40 percent of all work could transition permanently to remote (part- and full-time) work without any loss of productivity. She also addresses equity and skills gap impacts that should factor into any remote work context.
Arguably, "traditional management" has reached its zenith for many types of work. Work isn't always a matter of physical location but rather, it concerns the products of labor. For many types of work, an employee can be anywhere in the world with access to technology and time. Think of decreasing urban sprawl without all those buildings housing workers, the rents, the waste of space and electricity. Don't forget traffic snarls, pollution, road rage and all manner of other costs.
Working remotely also allows life work-balance improvement. Working from home can create challenges when the needs of family members or personal matters decrease focus and work. However, these realities apply regardless of location. I'd like to see research on the relative incidence, comparing remote and on-site work histories. Many stressors will diminish when workers are able to remain close to their homes and neighborhoods.
A June 2020 Bloomberg Businessweek article suggested that South Korea wants to develop leading technologies to make possible more remote work. Moon's "untact" initiative shouldn't end when his tenure ends, but it should rather continue to evolve under the next presidency. Creating a world of remote work requires partnerships between regional and local governments as well as leading companies.
A characteristic of advanced societies is that they learn from harsh experiences and apply these lessons to improve their people and the world. Reactionary societies and institutions cling to past patterns out of a stubborn and counterproductive, even deadly, refusal to adapt and grow. Many forces in the status quo prefer old-style work, as it pays and protects their vested interests.
Progressive societies respect the need to adapt and change, to extend new economies of scale in diverse ways. This progress has characterized some of the labor and development histories of South Korea and the United States. I hope our countries and nations throughout the world see the value in remote work and in hybrid remote/on-site work models, wherever they can do so. This value shouldn't remain just in our present alone but also extend into the future.
Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.
