By Koh Young-aah

GONE are the days when hard work was rewarded and long hours guaranteed productivity.

It is a message of the times to business executives as Korea's growth center has moved from smokestack industries to high-tech sectors in which speed, creativity and flexibility matter most.

A growing number of companies are adopting so-called "smart working" as an underlying concept redefining their work pattern, time, space and philosophy.

It takes the forms of flextime, telecommuting, longer vacations, freer office atmospheres and other ways that suit current business demands, help balance work and life and give workers greater opportunities for self-improvement.

The shift has been made possible by mobile communications technologies, in which Korea is among the most advanced. It also has been made inevitable by the growing number of working moms and broadening horizon of business networks, experts say.

"Smart work will eventually become commonplace in Korea -- it's just a matter of time. Companies are always seeking ways to increase their productivity in a shorter period of time. And smart work seems to be making opportunities for them to achieve the goal," said Ahn Byung-wook, a research fellow of Samsung Economic Research Institute, Korea's leading private think tank.

Smart working has become a buzzword largely among conglomerates as they try to generate new growth engine businesses and revitalize company morale in the wake of the worst economic crisis in decades.

KT Corp., the country's biggest fixed-line service provider, plans to introduce a new system beginning next month to allow its employees to work without limitations of time and place.

It also eyes a vastly expanding market for a range of solutions optimized to the flexible work system with which clients can organize an environment to boost efficiency and creativity.

The plan includes the construction of remote work centers where employees work with computers out of their offices. Those facilities will be established in nine different locations in Seoul and its surrounding areas this year and the number will increase to 30 by 2012, Suk Ho-ick, vice chairman of corporate relations, said.

KT projects its new work system will reduce the commute by 25,000 hours and cut direct expenses by 330 billion won. The company hires 3.5 million.

IBM is one of the pioneers of smart work, adopting programs such as "mobile office," "home office" and "flexible hours" since 1995. Currently around 70 percent of the company's employees -- mostly those in sales and service departments -- are involve in those programs.

"These programs have enabled IBM Korea to save about 2.2 billion won ($1.9 million) by enabling employees to maximize their time utilization, while boosting their job satisfaction," IBM Korea communications manager Hong Yong-ki said.

The company held the "IMPACT Korea 2010 conference" in Seoul on Wednesday introducing software programs like Websphere, business process management and service oriented architecture that support smart work environment.