Korean Offices Are Calling Workers Back, and Your Adult Class Already Picked a Side
Since 2023, major Korean employers including Samsung and SK hynix have scaled back or ended pandemic-era remote work, ordering staff back to the office full time — and most working adults in your class have an opinion on whether that was the right call.
Park English2026-09-173 min read
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Samsung told its staff in mid-2023 to come back five days a week. SK hynix followed with a similar full return-to-office policy not long after. Since then, a string of large Korean firms have quietly wound down the hybrid arrangements they built during the pandemic. Some companies still allow one remote day a week. Others have gone back to nothing.
This isn't a story your adult students read about somewhere. Many of them lived it. Some had a hybrid schedule for two or three years and lost it without much warning. Others never got remote work in the first place and are annoyed that anyone did. That gap is what makes this lesson work — you're not asking them to imagine a hypothetical, you're asking them to compare notes.
Warm-up (5 minutes)
Ask the class to raise hands: who currently works from home at least one day a week? Who did during the pandemic but lost it? Write both numbers on the board. The contrast usually gets a reaction before you've said anything else.
Reading the story straight (5–8 minutes)
Give students the short handout below and have them read it in pairs. Don't over-explain — let them ask you the words they don't know.
The pros and cons, on the board
Put this table up and have students add their own row before you move to discussion.
| Office return | Staying remote | |
|---|---|---|
| For the company | Easier to manage juniors, faster decisions, culture stays intact | Lower office costs, easier to hire outside Seoul |
| For the employee | More visible for promotion, less isolation | No commute, more control over the day |
| The catch | Long commute, no flexibility for parents | Harder to build relationships with your team |
Discussion questions, in order of difficulty
- Did your company change its remote work policy in the last two years? What happened?
- Is it fair for a manager to judge you by how many days you're in the office?
- Some companies say remote work hurts teamwork among junior staff. Do you agree?
- If your company offered a permanent choice — office or remote, same pay — which would you pick, and why?
- Is this really about productivity, or about control?
Question five is the one that gets quiet rooms talking. Push them there last, not first.
A wrinkle worth naming
Not every company followed the same timeline, and the news coverage in English tends to flatten this into one national story when it isn't. Some of your students' companies never offered remote work to begin with — smaller firms, manufacturing, retail. If a student says "this doesn't apply to me," that's a fair point and worth exploring rather than steering past.
Wrap-up (5 minutes)
Ask each student to finish this sentence out loud: "If I ran my company, I would ___." It forces a position without requiring them to defend a whole argument, which works better for lower-advanced groups.