Samsung execs will be forced to work a SIX day week after lackluster 2023 financial results

Samsung executives across all units will have to work six days a week, with the electronics giant citing uncertainties after its key businesses performed poorer than expected in 2023.

But on Monday, Samsung beat earnings expectations - and not just by a little bit. The company's operating profit jumped 933 percent in its first quarter ending in March.

By comparison, Samsung's operating profit dropped nearly 35 percent in the last quarter of 2023, but given the remarkable improvement over just a few months, the DailyMail.com reached out to Samsung to confirm whether it's still making its upper echelon of staff come in to work six days a week. 

Under the plan, which went into effect as early as two weeks ago in certain units of the company, executives will have to work either on Saturday or Sunday following the regular five-day workweek, the Korea Economic Daily reported.

Kyung Kyehyun, CEO of the Device Solutions division of Samsung Electronics, is pictured in the center between an IBM executive (left) and a Intel executive (right)

Han Jong-hee, CEO of Samsung Electronics, speaks at the Samsung press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 8, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada

Pictured: A Samsung mobile phone flagship store in Shanghai, China

'Considering that performance of our major units, including Samsung Electronics, fell short of expectations in 2023, we are introducing the six-day work week for executives to inject a sense of crisis and make all-out efforts to overcome it,' a Samsung Group executive told the South Korean paper. 

In 2023, Samsung Electronics recorded an operating loss $11 billion in its mainstay semiconductors business. The division that oversees the semiconductor business accounts for about 80 percent of Samsung’s earnings, which sheds some light on why the company has moved in the direction of getting all hands on deck.

Samsung also said that geopolitical risks linked to the Russia-Ukraine war and the tension in the Middle East adds to the need to adapt their business strategies.

Samsung's construction, shipbuilding and engineering units already voluntarily agreed to work six days a week at the start of 2023.

Employees below the executive level will continue to work five days a week, which has been the standard at the company since 2003, the Korea Economic Daily reported.

Based on the report, it isn't clear who among the company's leadership actually made the decision to convert to a six-day work week.

Senator Bernie Sanders made headlines last month for introducing legislation that would standardize a four-day or 32-hour work week in the US

The Samsung logo is seen at the Samsung company office on February 05, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea

This move from Samsung comes as dozens of countries around the world - including Ireland, Spain, and the UK - have tested a four day work week with most of them reporting improved productivity, morale and team culture.

Senator Bernie Sanders made headlines last month for introducing legislation that would standardize a four-day or 32-hour work week in the US. 

No country has fully moved to a four-day work week though, though a six day work week is normal at some companies in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and India.

Greece is one European country that's moving to a six day work week for employees in certain sectors.