Korean companies expand day care facilities for employees' kids
Posted : 2024-04-10 16:47
Updated : 2024-04-10 16:49
Children of Samsung Electronics employees attend a class at the company's new day care center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
By Baek Byung-yeul
Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG, POSCO and other Korean companies are rolling up their sleeves to offer better working environments to their employees juggling work and parenting, according to the companies, Wednesday.
This comes after the country’s total fertility rate fell to a record low last year. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Korea’s total fertility rate dropped to 0.65 for the first time, according to Statistics Korea, while the annual rate in 2023 was 0.72, a 0.06 decrease from 2022.
Lim Young-il, director of Statistics Korea's vital statistics division, said, "Excluding some city-states like Hong Kong, South Korea is perceived to have the lowest total fertility rate in the world.”
To overcome this demographic crisis, major domestic companies are supplementing welfare systems for childbirth and parenting. By caring for the entire cycle of child care, from pregnancy and childbirth to parenting, beyond simply guaranteeing scholarships or parental leave, the conglomerates aim to maintain their competitiveness while helping to overcome the national crisis.
On Tuesday, Samsung Electronics announced the expansion of a day care center at its headquarters, Samsung Digital City in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, to reduce the child care burden of employees struggling to balance work and parenting.
The company’s new day care center can accommodate 300 children. With the opening of this new facility, Samsung Electronics now operates the single largest day care facility in the country at one business site, with a capacity of 1,200 children at its Suwon campus.
“We are confident that the expansion of the fourth day care center will help employees reduce their child care burden and create a better environment for raising children,” Park Hark-kyu, president of Samsung Electronics, said.
In total, Samsung operates 12 day care centers with a total capacity of 3,100 children at eight business sites across Korea.
This enhancement of support for working moms and dads aligns with the philosophy of its Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who has said, "Working mom employees raising children are patriots."
The Samsung leader stated in a meeting with Samsung SDS employees in 2022 that the company should contribute to helping working moms balance work and family life.
Children and teachers pose for a photo at POSCO Group's day care center in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, March 13. Courtesy of POSCO Group
POSCO Group is also working to strengthen child care welfare for its employees. Since 2020, POSCO has been operating day care centers in Gwangyang and Pohang, where not only company employees but also employees of partner companies can entrust their children.
The group said 19 affiliates and 41 partner companies in Pohang and 18 affiliates and 88 partners and other companies located in Gwangyang are participating in the welfare program. Since 2022, POSCO's day care centers have also started offering English classes with native English speakers, enhancing children's experience.
LG Group is also actively implementing employee welfare systems to overcome the low birthrate and parenting problems. Each affiliate allows employees raising children up to the sixth grade of elementary school to choose their work hours flexibly and utilize office work and at-home work, supporting incentives for employees using maternity leave and parental leave.
Hyundai Motor, for the first time among major conglomerates, formed a joint labor-management task force in 2023 to strengthen support for low birthrate countermeasures and child care support solutions. While various systems related to low birthrates are already in operation, the company expects the task force will come up with more comprehensive support measures to better help employees raise their children.
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