SEOUL, August 17, 2021 — Coupang today announced that it has invested over $200 million in worker safety initiatives and added over 600 safety employees since the beginning of 2020. This highlights the company’s commitment to setting the global standard for employee health and safety, which includes comprehensive initiatives and policies such as a drivers’ workweek estimated to be nearly 30% less hours than the logistics industry average and a paid program for workers to receive personal health services.
One such health and safety initiative is Coupang Care, the first paid health promotion program in the industry. The program launched in late April and enables workers, including drivers and FC workers, to receive health education and personalized plans from experts on topics such as exercise and stress management, while continuing to receive full salary and benefits. In a survey of the first program participants, 60% showed improved blood pressure, blood sugar, and waist circumference in just four weeks. 44.6% of participants with abdominal obesity returned to a normal waist circumference and 37.2% of participants with hypertension had a notable reduction in symptoms.
Coupang has also been taking active measures to support employees and their safety during the current heatwave, which is the worst in Korea since 2018. The company has installed additional cooling systems to the company’s 100+ logistics centers, including thousands of air circulators and mobile air conditioners. Coupang has also been monitoring heat conditions at its centers to ensure frontline employees are sufficiently rested and safe to work.
In addition, the company continues to implement some of the most stringent COVID-19 measures in the industry to protect its employees. Coupang’s typical policy is to shut down a logistics center even if just one employee there tests positive for COVID, reopening sites only in consultation with local health authorities. Although this has led to dozens of shutdowns in the past year, Coupang continues to adhere to the policy to ensure the safety of its employees during the pandemic.
“Our employees, especially those on the frontline, form the backbone of our company,” said Ryan Brown, Coupang’s vice president of Environment Health and Safety. “In the same way they continually wow our customers, we strive to wow our employees, working to provide for them in every way. Our goal is to set the global standard for not just the best customer experience, but also the best employee workplace in terms of safety, working conditions, and benefits.”
As a part of Coupang’s commitment to creating the best workplace, the company offers all its drivers full-time employment. It is also the only major logistics company in Korea to directly employ 100% of its full-time drivers. While direct employment has far-reaching implications—for example, companies are required to report work-related injuries of employed drivers, but not work-related injuries of contracted drivers—this is another responsibility Coupang takes on in its commitment to its employees.
Coupang’s drivers also receive an industry-best five-day workweek, insurance and benefits from day one, and a minimum of 15 paid days off per year. This stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the Korean logistics industry, in which the vast majority of drivers are hired as third-party contractors, with six-day workweeks, no health insurance, national pension or benefits, and no paid time off. And last March, Coupang became the first company in Korea to make its frontline employees stockholders, providing over 39,000 frontline workers with restricted stock awards at its initial public offering.
About Coupang
Coupang is one of the largest e-Commerce companies in Asia, with a mission to revolutionize the everyday lives of its customers and create a world where people wonder, “How did we ever live without Coupang?” Coupang offers a variety of services, including same-day and next-morning delivery of groceries and general merchandise, delivery of prepared foods through Coupang Eats, and video streaming through Coupang Play. Coupang has offices in Beijing, Los Angeles, Seattle, Seoul, Singapore, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Taipei, and Tokyo.
