Severance Hospital's Four-Day Work Week Cuts Nurse Resignations, Improves Satisfaction

Severance Hospital is reporting a marked decrease in resignations among junior nurses, alongside improved work-life balance and job satisfaction, since piloting a four-day work week three years ago. The initiative, agreed upon in a 2022 labor-management accord, reduces working hours by 20% while maintaining 90% of total salary.

The pilot program, which began with three wards and has since expanded to six, has allowed nurses to better manage their personal lives and dedicate more attention to patients and colleagues. "If my mother was sick, I would have burdened my colleagues by taking leave before, but now I don't have to," shared nurse Lee Soon-hye. "With more personal time, I can listen to patients and smile at my colleagues."

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If my mother was sick, I would have burdened my colleagues by taking leave before, but now I don't have to. With more personal time, I can listen to patients and smile at my colleagues.

Data from a study by the Working Citizens Research Institute supports these anecdotal accounts. The resignation rate for nurses with less than three years of experience dropped from 19.5% to 7%. Physical exhaustion scores decreased by nearly half, from 79.7 to 40.1, and the rate of working while sick ('presenteeism') fell from 86.4% to 55.2%. Satisfaction with work-life balance also saw a significant increase, rising from 3.7 to 6.2 on the scale.

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The reduced working hours can be a good example for pursuing the national task of reducing actual working hours.

Kim Jong-jin, director of the Working Citizens Research Institute, called the results a positive example for the national goal of reducing actual working hours. However, he noted that challenges remain, including the need for additional staff and the development of a virtuous cycle through labor-management-government agreement. The hospital estimates that introducing replacement staff has increased per-ward labor costs by approximately 800 billion won (about $570 million USD).

Minister of Employment and Labor, Kim Young-joo, visited Severance Hospital to discuss the initiative. He suggested that demonstrating how reduced working hours can lead to higher quality medical services, rather than just increased costs, is crucial. "Although it is currently a cost, the improved quality of medical services corresponding to the reduced working hours will be returned to society," he stated, proposing that the government could consider support measures based on measurable improvements in service quality.

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Although it is currently a cost, the improved quality of medical services corresponding to the reduced working hours will be returned to society.