When you think of Samsung, what comes to mind? High-end electronics? Korea's economic pillar? Don't be funny! In the eyes of Korea, Samsung is the "volume king" of the "volume king". No, there has been a big news recently, Samsung executives are working overtime! Tsk, this is to engrave the word "volume" into DNA!
The name Samsung is like thunder in Korea. As the saying goes, Koreans can't hide from three things in their lives: death, paying taxes, and Samsung. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? Don't be deceived by appearances, in the hearts of Korea, Samsung is synonymous with the word "volume".
Take the news not long ago, Samsung released internal statements, saying that this year's performance is not up to standard, and since June, executives have to work overtime collectively. Working 6 days a week and working overtime, just to get Samsung back on the right track to make money. This is good, the top has begun to "roll", how dare the soldiers below slack off?
You know, in Korea, a place where the concept of hierarchy is deeply rooted, the "predecessor culture" is deeply rooted in the bone marrow. When seniors go to the toilet, you have to help get paper; The seniors smoked, and you had to take the initiative to offer the fire. In this atmosphere, executives are starting to work hard, and ordinary employees are still not allowed to "roll up"?
According to the data, the average weekly working hours of Samsung employees are as high as 48.7 hours, a record high. Don't think that they are all doing high-level work, it is said that most of the time they are repeating some simple tasks, no different from assembly line workers. No, the employees can't bear it anymore, and there has been a small strike recently, which shows the depth of the grievances.
You may ask, how did Samsung, as an international large enterprise, do this? Don't worry, and listen to me slowly.
You may not believe it, but Samsung started with "rolls" from the beginning. The founder, Lee Byung-cheol, was first engaged in the trade of fruits, vegetables and fish, and his slogan at that time was "as long as you don't die, you will do it to death". Later, Park Chung-hee engaged in economic construction, and Samsung caught up with the good time, investing in semiconductors and shipbuilding, but the workers had to work 18 hours a day!
At that time, Koreans could not eat enough, and it was good to be able to work. Besides, the benefits given by Samsung are okay, including food and accommodation, and red envelopes, so everyone will endure it. It may be that Korea are too tolerant, making Samsung mistakenly think that this model can continue forever.
Do you think that when times change, Samsung will change? Dream! Not only has it not changed, but it has intensified. What's even more infuriating is that now the Korea government actually endorses this practice in order to boost the economy. Last year, the Korea government introduced a plan for a maximum of 69 hours per week, isn't this a disguised support for the "roll culture"?
The government has spoken, what else is there to be afraid of a chaebol like Samsung? Besides, Samsung is a big taxpayer in Korea, who dares to offend? As a result, a vicious circle is formed: overtime leads to a decline in fertility, a decline in fertility requires more taxes to maintain social welfare, more taxes require more overtime... Korea is playing with fire!
To put it bluntly, Samsung's "roll culture" is the epitome of Korea society. From the hard work in the early days of entrepreneurship to the current disguised squeezing, Samsung has taken a typical Korean development path. But the question is, how far can this road go?
In today's increasingly competitive global world, how long can it continue to squeeze employees to increase productivity? What's more, today's young people are not as tolerant as their parents, and the strikes and protests will only increase.
Samsung, and even the entire Korea society, should think about it. Continuing to "roll", is it really the way out? Maybe it's time to change your thinking, such as improving work efficiency, improving management models, and focusing on the physical and mental health of employees. After all, only healthy and happy employees can create real value.
So finally, I would like to ask: in this era of fierce competition, how should we balance efficiency and humanity? Can blindly "rolling" really make enterprises and countries go further? What do you think about this?