Samsung has switched to ’emergency mode’ and is now asking executives to work six days a week.
The news, revealed in a report from The Korean Economic Journal, comes as the company faces ongoing business challenges. The company-wide policy affects executives and top managers within Samsung’s various divisions.
Recent disappointing financial results in 2023 saw Samsung post record revenue of about $51 billion in the final quarter of last year, down 3.8% year-over-year and down 2.2% compared to initial analyst forecasts.
Samsung goes to ’emergency mode’
Even worse was the company’s operating profit, which fell a whopping 34.6% year-on-year to almost $2 billion, putting the company’s entire balance sheet for the year in the negative: a deficit of approximately 14.88 trillion Korean won, or $10.8 billion.
A company executive told the Korean publication: “Considering that the performance of our key units, including Samsung Electronics Co., did not meet expectations in 2023, we are introducing the six-day work week for executives to create a sense of crisis and all our efforts to overcome it.”
The policy change is likely part of the South Korean company’s efforts to tackle increased competition in the chip market, where it faces fierce rivalry from the likes of SK Hynix. Other major chip makers, such as Intel and AMD, have also emphasized AI-enabled components in recent months.
That’s despite Samsung overtaking Apple in the latest quarterly smartphone shipment figures, giving it a 20.8% global market share.
Executives from the company’s various business units, such as Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI and Samsung SD, will all be asked to work an extra day each week, but those below the top level will continue with five-day routines.
Overall, Samsung has been quite resilient, laying off only 30 employees in March 2023. Many of its rivals have laid off thousands, but things could change for the company if the current outlook is as worrying as it seems.