With legal restrictions now in place limiting work hours to 52 hours per week, the leisure industry is seeing increased sales as employees spend more time on recreational activities during weekdays after work, an analysis conducted by KT’s Big Data Business Unit showed Tuesday.

The mobile carrier, together with BC Card, analyzed signal information exchanged between floating populations’ mobile phones and the operator’s stations in the Gwanghwamun area in central Seoul from Aug. 1 through Sept. 16. It showed that average daily work hours had decreased 55 minutes compared with the same period last year.

KT analyzed mobile communications data for about 15 million subscribers in the region between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. The results include information on subscribers who went back to their offices for unknown reasons as well as those who remained in the area, since restrictions prevented the company from tracking the whereabouts of individual subscribers.

The report noted that a number of large businesses and public organizations are located in the area.

The mobile data of workers in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, which is home to a number of IT and gaming startups, showed an 11.6-minute decrease in daily work hours, while that of workers in the financial district in Yeouido indicated a six-minute reduction. The financial industry was given a one-year grace period before the restrictions are put in place. 

In the meantime, sales at leisure-oriented shops and businesses affiliated with BC Card rose 9.2 percent on year for the period between Aug. 19 and Sept. 15, the analysis showed.

The Dongjak district in the southwestern area of Seoul showed the steepest rise in leisure activity-related sales with 70.3 percent on year, followed by Gangseo with 66.3 percent and Dongdaemun with 42.7 percent, the report said.

“The big-data analysis showed that people’s daily work hours have indeed decreased and the shortened hours are changing their daily patterns,” said Yoon Hye-jung, a vice president at the company’s big-data business unit.

The weekly 52-hour maximum took effect July 1 at state-run organizations and private businesses with 300 employees or more as part of the South Korean government’s initiative to improve quality of life and help people achieve a better work-life balance.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)