A child goes to a kindergarten in Seoul with an adult on Feb. 11, 2025.NEWS1
About one in three listedcompanies that have introduced flexible workinghours had no employees using the system, while the use of parental leave showed stark disparities across employers, according to a report released Thursday.
The Korean Peninsula Population Institute for Future, a private demographic think tank, published a report on the corporate response to the population decline ahead of World Population Day on Saturday.
A total of 35 percent, or 657, of the 1,877 listed companies that reported having flexible working arrangements said no employees used them. Public disclosure of such data became mandatory last year, allowing the institute to conduct the first comprehensive analysis this year.
The findings show that many companies have only introduced the systems, including staggered working hours, flexible schedules and remote work, without actual implementation.
Parental leave showed a similarly uneven pattern.
A total of 17 percent, or 341, of 2,000 listed companies offering parental leave had all eligible employees take parental leave. Another 22 percent, or 441, said none of their eligible employees used the benefit.
"The wide gap in usage despite the same policies suggests that workplace culture, rather than the existence of the policy itself, determines whether employees actually use the benefits or not," the institute said.
An employee of GS E&C who is on parental leave as he recently became the father of twin babies receives a gift from the company on July 25, 2024.GS E&C
The institute also assessed 300 companies — 100 with assets worth 5 trillion won ($3.3 billion) or more, 100 with assets between 1 and 5 trillion won and another 100 with assets lower than 1 trillion won — on their responses to demographic challenges based on sustainable management reports they had issued. The companies received an average score of 51.1 out of 100.
Posco International ranked first overall, followed by Lotte Chilsung Beverage in second. KB Securities and Lotte Wellfood were tied for third.
The highest-ranked companies recorded substantially higher rates of parental leave and flexible work use. The average parental leave utilization rate among the top 10 percentof companies was 48.6 percent, nearly double the 25.8 percentrecorded by the bottom 10percent.
"Although there is growing optimism as the total fertility rate has recently rebounded, conditions in workplaces remain bleak," Yi In-sill, the president of the institute, said.
"Introducing policies means little if employees who need them cannot actually use them. Companies need to start by making sure flexible work arrangements function in practice."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
