South Korea trials 4-day weeks and half-days for its stressed

Seoul, South Korea – Go Kyoung-min, 34, a nurse at Severance Hospital in Seoul, found a new sense of balance in her life during the first half of this year.

As the mother of twin daughters born in 2021, Go often felt guilty about not spending enough time with her children because of work.

But after opting into the four-day workweek offered by her workplace, Go was able to spend more time with her family, attending daycare events she had previously missed and relying less on her in-laws for childcare.

Severance is the first hospital in South Korea to trial a four-day workweek, aiming to improve the work-life balance of its staff.

Under the program, introduced in 2023 following an agreement between labour and management, some hospital employees are allowed to take three days off per we