South Korea steelmaker POSCO says its staff back in office as Covid rules ease

Most staff at South Korea’s POSCO have returned to their offices starting from April 1, a spokesperson of the steelmaker said on Tuesday, making it one of the first major firms in the country to implement back-to-office plans.

POSCO’s move comes as South Korea weighs scrapping social distancing curbs altogether and explores living with Covid-19 amid declining infections.

Previously, 50% of the company’s office-based workforce had worked from home, while its plants in the southern port cities of Pohang and Gwangyang operated normally.

“We’re planning to carry out a flexible policy considering employees’ circumstances,” said the spokesperson. POSCO had a global workforce strength of 18,247 as of end-December.

However, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics , Hyundai Motor and SK Innovation said when contacted by Reuters that they have yet to implement back-to-office plans, citing concerns about the highly infectious Omicron variant.

South Korea has been gradually relaxing its social distancing rules in recent weeks, abolishing controversial vaccine mandates and a compulsory quarantine for vaccinated travellers arriving from overseas.

Lee Sang-won, an official at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), said on Tuesday that authorities are consulting experts over cutting the seven-day mandatory quarantine to five days.

ALSO READ:

Total infections rose to 14,267,401, with 17,662 deaths.