[tonyle]

At first I thought it was some employer gone crazy.

Halfway down, I realize it's just like any other big company tactics. Some upper management suggest all employees practice positive thinking, offering a course on how do deal with stress, forced laughter, etc.

Then I wondered how common this practice was for a company to offer this to their employees in the same way a company would offer free massages or therapy.

Seems to be a common, even competitive business in Korea.

Now I'm not sure how I feel about it. It could be some big new spiritual trend, but it could also be some shady business taking advantage of the depressed.

[paulojreis]

Personally, I thinks it's way, way past any acceptable measure to improve positive thinking and engagement. It's closer to a shock tactic than to any new-age/*spiritual "put life into perspective" thing.

Really, it's just too deliberately traumatic.

[stcredzero]

It's closer to a shock tactic than to any new-age/spiritual "put life into perspective" thing.*

Actually, things like "Est" often used shock tactics, and were deliberately traumatic. (Though only slightly in the vast scheme of things.)

[Dirlewanger]

This seems like a classic example of treating the symptom and not the cause. The articles doesn't go into too much as to why the workers are feeling stressed. I'm guessing Korea has a similar insane work culture like Japan's?

If so, given the existentiality of this issue, the fact that the company is handling this is scary.

[joonhocho]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_time I'm pretty sure Koreans work more than what's recorded, but still.

[st3v3r]

You know what's really funny/sad? This bullshit usually comes from the very people who are in a position to make an actual difference. They are the ones who could say, "Come in at 9 and leave at 5:30. Do not work from home. Disconnect, and spend time with family." Yet, they don't, because they really do not care about this problem.