Samsung reportedly wants some of its teams to work 64 hours per week

According to a report, Samsung Display, the subsidiary responsible for manufacturing the company’s screens, has contemplated implementing a 64-hour workweek for certain teams.

Despite facing growing competition in its OLED business, Samsung has announced plans to introduce a 64-hour workweek, as reported by DigiTimes. This measure is intended to increase productivity in departments such as IT, artificial intelligence development, and Micro projects by extending working hours.

The tech giant has put forth a special request to the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor to increase the maximum working hours to 64 hours per week. In accordance with Korea’s labor laws, the current limit for working hours is set at 52 hours per week, which includes 40 regular hours and the possibility of an additional 12 hours of overtime.

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According to a report by Korea’s JoongAng Daily on June 8, Samsung has recently implemented a 64-hour workweek for its semiconductor research and development (R&D) and smartphone teams. The decision was made as the company faced financial challenges and had to enter emergency mode to address its declining earnings.

In April of this year, Samsung instructed its executives to work six days a week. According to Korea Economic Daily, the company implemented this overtime schedule in order to create a sense of urgency among employees and increase its profits.

Despite a recovery in the chip market, Samsung still faced its worst financial year in over a decade in 2023, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. According to the report, the company’s net profit in Q4 dropped by 73%. The semiconductor sector, which makes up 80% of Samsung’s earnings, also suffered a loss of approximately 15 trillion Korean won ($11 billion USD) in the previous year.