What it is like to work from home

Our daily life has completely changed upon the outbreak of the COVID-19. Especially after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus as pandemic, the way we live and work has been changing much faster than ever before. In an attempt to bar the spread of the disease, companies around the world have told their employees to work from home and unprecedented changes to corporate culture have been made inevitably.

On Feb. 28, Hyundai Card•Hyundai Capital Services (HCS) adjusted working hours, allowing employees to start working at 10 a.m. and finishing at 5 p.m. The two companies let half of its staff work from home to enforce physical distance.

To the majority of employees, teleworking is not familiar. Since it does not require them to be formally dressed and to physically move back and forth between home and office, many of them feel it awkward to stay home and are concerned about whether they can fully concentrate on their job. Hyundai Card•Hyundai Capital Newsroom listened to the voices from employees from around the world working from home.

Ahn Kimin works from home on a computer rented from

the company.

As is widely known, Daegu•Gyeongbuk region has witnessed an explosive increase of COVID-19 patients as of Feb. 19. The company took pre-emptive measures to keep its employees in the region from infection. For nearly two months, a minimum number of workers who have to work in the office has been commuting, whereas the rest have been working from home.

When the Daegu branch was ordered to enforce work-from-home system, a moment confusion occurred. Many colleagues did not own a computer, neither did they have any idea of how to install programs needed for remote connection to the company system. The problems were quickly solved at the company’s nimble action, providing laptops to those without computers at home including me.

The longer the period of working from home becomes, the more I miss those days when I could have small talks with my colleagues over lunch and the brief snack time that we managed to have in the afternoon. I wish to see the coronavirus situation to wrap up and mingle with my co-workers again soon.

Here she have the company of my husband and my 2-year-old son, who cheers up our routine

At Banco Hyundai Capital Brasil (BHCB), we are experiencing an unprecedented crisis. We have to take special care of ourselves so that the impact of the pandemic is minimized and the situation ends as soon as possible. The company has saved no efforts to protect its workers, which helped working from home proceed smoothly so far.

To make sure I can maintain productivity, I laid out a work from home schedule. I wake up at 7 a.m., take a shower, eat breakfast and start work as usual. I asked my family a favor to help me concentrate on my work. My husband and two-year-old son have been helping a lot.

It has been challenging to maintain contact with our team only through calls and videoconferences, because personal contact is irreplaceable, especially to the Brazilian people who have such a close culture. I miss the closeness to my colleagues at BHCB and the routine we have established to work on our projects. But in delicate situations like the one we are experiencing, this kind of adaptation is necessary.

Despite the challenges, I understand that this is a time for us to learn how to make the best of difficult situations and come out stronger from this crisis that impacts the whole world. I hope that all our colleagues at Hyundai Card∙Hyundai Capital and their families take care and be well.

Junhyeok Oh recently bought a computer monitor to improve productivity.

“If I lie down on my bed now, I am going to be in a huge trouble.”

I kept telling myself as I started working from home. The biggest change was the fact that I didn’t have to go to the office. I used to be busy getting ready to go to work in the morning, but I could spend the spare time lying down on my bed.

Although I sat in front of my computer, TV and bed appeared more tempting today than ever before. It was more difficult than I expected to use my home as an office. I had to fight against my own urge to go easy on me.

Lunch time came but I felt like I have been working all day long probably because I was more nervous than usual. Now I realized why the company cares so much about the office environment to maximize productivity.

I needed a change. My home office is now as close as possible to my company. I get up, take a shower and get dressed as if I were coming to my office. I bought a computer monitor to connect to my laptop so I could use dual computer monitors. As I changed the working conditions, I was able to work more efficiently at home.

While working on the project, I filled a side of the wall in my room with memos

The main challenges that we have had is being able to sign, notarize and send titling and registration documents to our brand dealers. We usually have a same day turn around on most requests, but now we can only process documents two to three times per week. Otherwise, our team has not had any real technical issues and really loves the opportunity to work from home. The biggest change for me is that I usually have a very long commute to work and it has been nice not having to make the trip.

I wake up every morning at 8:25 a.m., brush my teeth, wash my face and walk to my desk to clock in by 8:30 a.m. I eat a boiled egg and bacon during my first break. I always have my trusty Dr. Pepper by my side. I get to look out of the window and see the sun and neighbors walking around throughout the day. I have to admit that I miss my comfortable chair in my office.

Today has been busy for me because I am currently working on a project to update a process in Policy and Procedures. I had to turn my wall into my flow chart.

I usually have a light lunch now that I can start dinner earlier since I don’t have to commute. I made a small salad and watched some TV with my 12-year-old daughter today. Her school starts online lessons next week because the schools will be closed for several weeks.

After lunch it’s back to the usual work day until 5:30 p.m Once I clock out, it has actually been pretty boring at home. I am running out of TV shows to watch, games to play and puzzles to do. I have been experimenting in the kitchen with different meals that can take up time. I miss my daily interaction with my co-workers but absolutely love working from home. It is a double edged sword. To my global colleagues, stay busy and stay healthy. We will get through these unprecedented times and come out stronger and better than ever!

Miso Kim is fine with working from home but sometimes misses the time she spent with her co-workers in the office.

I sometimes heard that colleagues at the headquarters or other regions were having a hard time adapting to working from home. But for Daegu•Gyeongbuk colleagues who have weeks of experience now, I think this kind of transition period is already over.

Yes, it is true that communication is not as easy as usual because you can’t talk to someone in person. But now we are able to communicate with each other smoothly while working from home. Line Works, in particular, is a big help, since I can use it just like instant messaging on the company network.

Today I’m hectic because I have a lot to do. I’m having a newfound respect for the company’s system infrastructure working from home. I feel zero inconvenience accessing the company network on my laptop. If I have to name one, working with ERP is a little hard because my laptop screen is small.

But I understand the conditions can’t be the same as what I work with in the office. I talk to my colleagues over the phone or messenger app to get my work done. Although I’m alone working in my place, it feels like they are around me and got my back.

I do everything – from having breakfast to working in the morning, having a coffee break, working in the afternoon and wrapping up – at home. But there is nothing I would complain about. I believe I’m more of a homebody than I thought I would be.

7 a.m. Waaaaaaaaaaaaake up…… Sometimes I think my alarm sound has a voice of his own. Now I will count up to three and leave this comfortable peaceful paradisiac place called bed. There is this wonderful espresso waiting for me.

8:03 a.m. I am sitting at my new desk in a business casual. A good-looking attitude helps my mind tune on work. I have been working from home over the past two weeks and another week is ahead of me. Although I don’t expect it to be the case, more will be followed.

A winner of the Global Workspace Decoration Contest hosted by Hyundai Card•Hyundai Capital in June 2019, Pier did a great job of creating his home office as he started working from home.

This sudden unexpected virus has affected much of our daily routine here in Europe, as it did to the other parts of the world. I must say that I am so thankful to my company for looking after us all. Not only does Hyundai Capital place the health of the employees as a top priority, it has been communicating with nice words and precise information.

Tips, recommendations, instructions, masks, detergents, IT tools, and a smile. They were all provided in due time. On top of all these, those warm, sincere message from our global CEO has made us feel like a member of a real family once more.

12:05 p.m. Mails, video meetings and phone call. Time flies with smart working environment. Learning in life is a seamless experience, there is always a sense for what happens, we just must be ready to listen, to see, to expand the senses around us and try to get the message, the positive meaning coming from the world to us.

18 p.m. The day looks always longer at my house – at least in my impression. Living alone also enhances such feeling. I can’t help but thinking about my family. My lovely parents and brother who live in Latina, my hometown.

I used to visit the newly-opened Hyundai Capital Café after work. I and my team enjoyed a good talk, a cup of coffee or a bottle of alcohol. But now we meet in a cyberspace, thanks to a video function.

We can all stay more tuned and feel closer in this “alternate” period of our life and business in a cyberspace.

18:31 p.m. The day looks longer working from home – at least in my impression. I can’t help but thinking about my lovely parents and my best brother who live in Latina, my hometown. I used to fly back every month to see them, but it is impossible now. All I can do is to remind them that I am close to them with longer and more frequent phone calls.

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