70 pct of firms eye better biz conditions under new gov't: poll

SEOUL, March 24 (Yonhap) -- Slightly over 7 in 10 South Korean companies expect their managerial conditions to improve under the country's incoming government, a poll showed Thursday.

According to the survey of 202 firms with a workforce of 30 or more, 71.3 percent of the respondents anticipate risks from government policies to ease during the next government.

Nearly 22 percent expect no changes in policy risks, while some 7 percent project those risks to expand, according to the survey taken by the Korea Enterprises Federation from March 14-21.

Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party is slated to be installed as South Korea's new president on May 10 after beating ruling-party rival Lee Jae-myung in a neck-and-neck race earlier this month.

Of the corporations expecting improvements, roughly 38 percent said the new administration would likely ease up on efforts to legislate business-restricting laws.

Another 25.2 percent cited the rational innovation of administrative regulations, followed by an eased tax burden with 15.3 percent and stable labor-management relations with 6.9 percent.

The survey also showed 51.8 percent of those firms expecting the country's 52-hour workweek to emerge as a heavy burden on their management down the road.

In an effort to reduce long working hours, South Korea adopted the system starting with 300 or more employees. In January 2020, the system began to be applied to firms with 50 to 299 employees and to smaller businesses in early 2021.

Those companies predict Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow only 2.6 percent this year due to unstable domestic and external conditions, including rising raw material prices. The forecast is lower than the government's prediction of 3.1 percent and the central bank's 3 percent.

Nearly 78 percent of the surveyed firms said their managerial risks from the coronavirus pandemic will not likely be alleviated this year, with the largest portion of 38.1 percent expecting to pull out of the impact in the first half of next year, according to the findings.
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