Samsung Group orders executives to work 6 days a week

South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group has ordered a six-day work week for its executives to come up with plans to adapt to economic uncertainty, according to reports.

The Korea Economic Daily (KED) reported that the move comes as some of the group's mainstay businesses didn't meet expectations in 2023.

"Considering that performance of our major units, including Samsung Electronics, fell short of expectations in 2023, we are introducing the six-day work week for executives to inject a sense of crisis and make all-out efforts to overcome it," said a Samsung Group company executive last week as quoted by KED Global.

Executives working 6 days since start of year

Executives at Samsung Display Co., Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., and Samsung SDS Co. have been ordered to work six days since last week, according to the report.

They join officials at Samsung C&T Corp., Samsung Heavy Industries Co., and Samsung E&A Co., who have been voluntarily working six days a week since the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, executives at Samsung Life Insurance Co and other financial services firms under Samsung Group will likely join them in the the six-day work week soon.

According to the KED report, these officials will review and modify business strategies to adapt to the changing business environment amid geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine and the growing tensions in the Middle East.

In 2023, Samsung Electronics' sales were down 14.3% from a year earlier after posting KRW258.93 trillion, according to its financial report. Its operating profit also sank 84.9% on-year to KRW6.56 trillion, while net profit declined 72.2% to KRW15.48 trillion.