KT Corp. said Thursday that the company has saved 26 years of time over the past year thanks to its smart work program that started last April.

The nation’s second-largest telecom carrier also held a conference celebrating the first anniversary of the program, pledging to expand its smart work initiative to other firms.

Since last year, KT has encouraged its 20,000 employees to work at home or “smart-working” centers located near their residential areas.

Currently, some 4,000 people are working at the 16 centers in the metropolitan area in a month ― a 4.3-fold increase from last year.

According to the study, the average amount of commuting time saved was 94 hours per person, which means 26 years per year among all participating workers.

The reduced commuting time also contributed to a 20 ton decrease in CO2 emissions.

By replacing paper with tablet PCs, the company also reduced the 231 A4 papers that an employee used to spend monthly in 2010 to 188 papers recently.

Workers also showed positive reactions to the program. Thirty-four percent expressed satisfaction with the increased time with family, while 17 percent said they use the remaining time for refreshment and self-development.

The company also said that its smart-working centers are used by some 250 people from other 40 firms, with the number expected to increase to 30 within the year to lead the local smart work trend.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)