Survey Says
A specialized international recruitment firm released the results of a survey today that indicate that Korean workers view youth unemployment and working the longest hours in the OECD as critical labor-related social issues that need rapid improvement.
Robert Walters released the results of its Korean Employee Insights Survey 2017, which surveyed 755 professionals in Korea.
Regarding long working hours, 21 percent of all respondents said that it’s a problem which needs to be fixed quickly, regardless of whether they work for a domestic or international firm. Respondents replied that the government should take measures to improve working conditions such as monitoring actual working hours at work. Youth unemployment (21 percent), lack of quality jobs (19 percent), and polarization between large and small firms (15 percent) were also important labor market concerns.
Further, a majority of respondents (86 percent of all replies) answered that they were interested in the new government’s labor-related policies. Reforming chaebol and fostering the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (21 percent) ranked at the top as the most needed labor policy. Family-friendly workplaces (17 percent), improvements in working environment and employee welfare (15 percent) and youth job creation (12 percent) followed.
By gender, the survey revealed that male respondents were more supportive in reforming chaebol and fostering SME competitiveness. Among the respondent opinions, “youth unemployment could be improved if SME competitiveness were increased” and “job opportunities would grow if SME innovation were encouraged and monopolistic chaebol practices were reformed,” suggesting that promoting competitive SMEs is more likely to result in reducing youth unemployment than expanding employment in the public sector.
On the other hand, more women cited a family-friendly work environment (26 percent of female respondents) as more important than support programs for working mothers (18 percent of female respondents). The result showed that female workers wanted labor policies to be as practical as possible, allowing for flexible work hours and working at home, aside from public policies such as maternity leave.
Duncan Harrison, the country manager of Robert Walters Korea, said, “According to Robert Walters’s Employee Insights Survey, Korean professionals favour government initiatives which would reduce corporate polarization through chaebol reform and developing the SME sector. In addition to public policies, companies should endeavour to ensure better work conditions so as to create a family-friendly work environment to ultimately enhance their own productivity.”