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Korean Office Workers Most Stressed in the World
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Real Reality



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:55 am    Post subject: Korean Office Workers Most Stressed in the World Reply with quote

"Korean office workers have the highest stress level among employees in economically advanced countries.... 95 percent of Korean office workers say they are stressed. Japan's stress level was 61 percent, and in the United States it is 40 percent."
Source:
Korean desk jockeys world's most stressed
By Seo Ji-eun, JoongAng Daily (April 11, 2007)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2874348
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caniff



Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Couldn't it just be part of the work culture to say you are stressed, even when you actually aren't?

"Well, if Mr. Kim and Mr. Lee complain about their stress levels, but I say I'm relatively relaxed at work, I will look like a slacker or not part of our collective Uri experience."

However, I sure wouldn't want to be a Korean office worker. It does seem like a shit job.
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mehamrick



Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Location: South Korea

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah they are stressed trying to figure out how to pay for the room salon this weekend... Very Happy
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Ginormousaurus



Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

caniff wrote:
Couldn't it just be part of the work culture to say you are stressed, even when you actually aren't?

"Well, if Mr. Kim and Mr. Lee complain about their stress levels, but I say I'm relatively relaxed at work, I will look like a slacker or not part of our collective Uri experience."

However, I sure wouldn't want to be a Korean office worker. It does seem like a *beep* job.


This post is spot on. The most annoying thing I've found since learning Korean is how many Koreans talk about "stress" and "strength" all the time. Its just something they do. So of course if asked in a survey they are going to say they are stressed.
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merkurix



Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Location: Not far from the deep end.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is all a vicious cycle of the Korean "succeed or die trying" phenomenon that we can observe the instant a Korean is born. When I first came to Korea, I worked in a kindy hagwon franchise where they threw tiny 3 and 4 year olds at me. These kids can barely manage Korean, much less English? What an adventure this was to teach these tiny kids a textbook. Anyways, this is what I have observed to be the start of their stressful life.
As the kid goes through his elementary and middle school, in addition to his regular school and his hours and hours of homework, he has to go to a bunch of hagwons: violin, English, Japanese, hanja, art, taekwondo, etc. The poor kid looks so tired coming home at 11:00 PM still in his school uniform only to finally catch up with not only the homework for his regular school, but also any homework assigned by any number of his hagwons. Welcome to the rest of your life kiddo.
Fast forward to his high school years. The same kid is slaving away to stay on top of his class and studying at any number of hagwons that will help him get good entrance scores into the university of his choice. He studies his but off and he gets into one of the most prestigious universities in Korea.
In college the kid qualified for a major that he is not content with, but he at least got into the university of his (parents') choice. He works very hard to try to pass the necessary tests for employment. The placement test for his company, as well as other tests that he needs to pass such as TOEIC etc. But first, he must deal with the daily torment and toil of serving in the Korean Army for two years.
It is now his senior year of university, and the kid is getting ready to interview with the largest corporation in Korea. He has been preparing for this moment his entire college life, countless hours of interview strategies, resume writing, test-taking strategies might finally pay off at this very moment.
The day of the interview goes by and he is notified that he gets the job. He takes an early leave of absence from his university and begins his work for this corporation. Everything he has done in life, all his hagwon training, his excellent high school performance, and the prestige of his university have landed him this dream job. He is working a desk job in a high rise building in the middle of Seoul's bustling commercial district. That year turns out great for him, he has his dream job, and that very year he gets married as well. Life couldn't be better: a beautiful wife, an enviable job and a promise to a good life. All of the toil and childhood sacrifices are indeed paying off.
One year later the same guy has a baby and he is still working at his great job. 8 hours 9-5; and in the evenings he runs home to his wife and newborn. That is until promotions at work come up and they have a promotion. It is not him though. It is another guy who was hired at the same time as he though. He had a habit of staying a couple of extra hours late to work for free. This little strategy paid off.
Embittered, he is now determined to put in a couple of extra hours in so that they won't pass him up for a promotion. His other office mates also don't want to be left behind, so a rat race ensues that year as to who can work the longest. In time, nobody wants to be upstaged or passed up for a promotion, so the hours become longer and longer everyday. In a short amount of time, people are working up to 16 hours a day in the office. The competition for a promotion is brutal and fierce. He can no longer come to his wife at 5 o'clock as he once did. Instead, he goes home everyday to find his wife and child asleep. Since it is late into the night, they do not wake up. He then sleeps a few hours a night only to be up and running to work very early in the morning. He gets ready, his wife and child are still asleep when he runs out the door. The only time he can interact with his wife and child are on Sundays. Welcome to the rest of your life kiddo.
Then the stress begins to take a serious toll. His relationship to his wife is severely strained. His child sees him more as a guest than a father. He has a sickly feeling everyday from sleeping so little and logging in so much free overtime daily. His hair begins to lightly gray at such a young age. Someday he will be promoted, or forced to retire early. Oh yeah, and at this point his kid is old enough to start going to a kindy hagwon. He is now enrolled for next week. Time to work more harder than ever now, for the baby's sake. Welcome to the rest of your life kiddo. Be just like daddy. This is his life. End of story.

If one can observe closely this is the life that many Koreans have. From a very young age, they are trained to work and study very hard to achieve financial success in life. But in the end, it amounts to having a incredibly stressful life, all in order to "keep of with the Kims." and mantain a high position in society


Last edited by merkurix on Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:54 am; edited 2 times in total
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frankhenry



Joined: 13 Mar 2007

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

merkurix wrote:
This is all a vicious cycle of the Korean "succeed or die trying" phenomenon that we can observe the instant a Korean is born. When I first came to Korea, I worked in a kindy hagwon franchise where they threw tiny 3 and 4 year olds at me. These kids can barely manage Korean, much less English? What an adventure this was to teach these tiny kids a textbook. Anyways, this is what I have observed to be the start of their stressful life.
As the kid goes through his elementary and middle school, in addition to his regular school and his hours and hours of homework, he has to go to a bunch of hagwons: violin, English, Japanese, hanja, art, taekwondo, etc. The poor kid looks so tired coming home at 11:00 PM still in his school uniform only to finally catch up with not only the homework for his regular school, but also any homework assigned by any number of his hagwons. Welcome to the rest of your life kiddo.
Fast forward to his high school years. The same kid is slaving away to stay on top of his class and studying at any number of hagwons that will help him get good entrance scores into the university of his choice. He studies his but off and he gets into one of the most prestigious universities in Korea.
In college the kid qualified for a major that he is not content with, but he at least got into the university of his (parents') choice. He works very hard to try to pass the necessary tests for employment. The placement test for his company, as well as other tests that he needs to pass such as TOEIC etc. But first, he must deal with the daily torment and toil of serving in the Korean Army for two years.
It is now his senior year of university, and the kid is getting ready to interview with the largest corporation in Korea. He has been preparing for this moment his entire college life, countless hours of interview strategies, resume writing, test-taking strategies might finally pay off at this very moment.
The day of the interview goes by and he is notified that he gets the job. He takes an early leave of absence from his university and begins his work for this corporation. Everything he has done in life, all his hagwon training, his excellent high school performance, and the prestige of his university have landed him this dream job. He is working a desk job in a high rise building in the middle of Seoul's bustling commercial district. That year turns out great for him, he has his dream job, and that very year he gets married as well. Life couldn't be better: a beautiful wife, an enviable job and a promise to a good life. All of the toil and childhood sacrifices are indeed paying off.
One year later the same guy has a baby and he is still working at his great job. 8 hours 9-5; and in the evenings he runs home to his wife and newborn. That is until promotions at work come up and they have a promotion. It is not him though. It is another guy who was hired at the same time as he though. He had a habit of staying a couple of extra hours late to work for free. This little strategy paid off.
Embittered, he is now determined to put in a couple of extra hours in so that they won't pass him up for a promotion. His other office mates also don't want to be left behind, so a rat race ensues that year as to who can work the longest. In time, nobody wants to be upstaged or passed up for a promotion, so the hours become longer and longer everyday. In a short amount of time, people are working up to 16 hours a day in the office. The competition for a promotion is brutal and fierce. He can no longer come to his wife at 5 o'clock as he once did. Instead, he goes home everyday to find his wife and child asleep. Since it is late into the night, they do not wake up. He then sleeps a few hours a night only to be up and running to work very early in the morning. He gets ready, his wife and child are still asleep when he runs out the door. The only time he can interact with his wife and child are on Sundays. Welcome to the rest of your life kiddo.
Then the stress begins to take a serious toll. His relationship to his wife is severely strained. His child sees him more as a guest than a father. He has a sickly feeling everyday from sleeping so little and logging in so much free overtime daily. His hair begins to lightly gray at such a young age. Someday he will be promoted, or forced to retire early. This is his life. End of story.

If one can observe closely this is the life that many Koreans have. From a very young age, they are trained to work and study very hard to achieve financial success in life. But in the end, it amounts to having a incredibly stressful life, all in order to "keep of with the Kims." and mantain a high position in society


Well said!
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rednblack



Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Location: In a quiet place

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, got to say the same. A very precise and correct view of Korean male society.

Last edited by rednblack on Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:26 am; edited 1 time in total
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anae



Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: cowtown

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would like to know what job at a company in Korea is 9 to 5, because I never saw it with my husband either at the Chaebol or at the small firm he worked at. He would leave home before 7 and leave work at 8 ot 9 at night to have dinner with me and that was leaving early. We had to move to Canada to get that lifestyle. His parents are still amazed that he is home every night by 5:30.

I think the most stressful things about being a working man in Korea are having to be away from your family so much and not having any control over your working life. My husband was always making suggestions about how his department could run more efficiently, but they were always rejected. How about doing this and this throughout the month so we don't have to stay up for three days in a row to get the month end report out. The answer was always no. We do it this way because this is the way we do it. One boss actually asked him if he thought he was hired to think. Don't even get me started about the after work obligations. I can get a little crazy when I think about that.
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merkurix



Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Location: Not far from the deep end.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

anae wrote:
I would like to know what job at a company in Korea is 9 to 5, because I never saw it with my husband either at the Chaebol or at the small firm he worked at. He would leave home before 7 and leave work at 8 ot 9 at night to have dinner with me and that was leaving early. We had to move to Canada to get that lifestyle. His parents are still amazed that he is home every night by 5:30.

I think the most stressful things about being a working man in Korea are having to be away from your family so much and not having any control over your working life. My husband was always making suggestions about how his department could run more efficiently, but they were always rejected. How about doing this and this throughout the month so we don't have to stay up for three days in a row to get the month end report out. The answer was always no. We do it this way because this is the way we do it. One boss actually asked him if he thought he was hired to think. Don't even get me started about the after work obligations. I can get a little crazy when I think about that.


I have had friends who have been hired by large firms as well as foreign friends who have taught for Samsung, and they all tell me the same thing. A lot of these new hires are told they will work six days a week, 8 hours day. In theory this is all they would have to work, but in actual practice they have to "voluntarily and out of the kindness of their heart," log in a tremendous amount of overtime. At first they work their 8 hours, but as soon as work demands, the inability to refuse requests from superiors, peer pressures and rivalries/bullying increases, so do the hours. This also includes the frequent and mandatory after-work 'soju parties' where the unavoidable hangover is a next-day work benefit.
My Samsung teacher friend told me that she has not taught a single junior executive who hasn't had a boss or superior who just flopped over and died from exhaustion, malnutrition, dehydration, anemia, stroke, etc.
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Matt_22



Joined: 22 Nov 2006

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i blame it on the hideous flourescent lighting
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leebumlik69



Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Location: DiRectly above you. Pissing Down

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

merkurix wrote:
This is all a vicious cycle of the Korean "succeed or die trying" phenomenon that we can observe the instant a Korean is born. When I first came to Korea, I worked in a kindy hagwon franchise where they threw tiny 3 and 4 year olds at me. These kids can barely manage Korean, much less English? What an adventure this was to teach these tiny kids a textbook. Anyways, this is what I have observed to be the start of their stressful life.
As the kid goes through his elementary and middle school, in addition to his regular school and his hours and hours of homework, he has to go to a bunch of hagwons: violin, English, Japanese, hanja, art, taekwondo, etc. The poor kid looks so tired coming home at 11:00 PM still in his school uniform only to finally catch up with not only the homework for his regular school, but also any homework assigned by any number of his hagwons. Welcome to the rest of your life kiddo.
Fast forward to his high school years. The same kid is slaving away to stay on top of his class and studying at any number of hagwons that will help him get good entrance scores into the university of his choice. He studies his but off and he gets into one of the most prestigious universities in Korea.
In college the kid qualified for a major that he is not content with, but he at least got into the university of his (parents') choice. He works very hard to try to pass the necessary tests for employment. The placement test for his company, as well as other tests that he needs to pass such as TOEIC etc. But first, he must deal with the daily torment and toil of serving in the Korean Army for two years.
It is now his senior year of university, and the kid is getting ready to interview with the largest corporation in Korea. He has been preparing for this moment his entire college life, countless hours of interview strategies, resume writing, test-taking strategies might finally pay off at this very moment.
The day of the interview goes by and he is notified that he gets the job. He takes an early leave of absence from his university and begins his work for this corporation. Everything he has done in life, all his hagwon training, his excellent high school performance, and the prestige of his university have landed him this dream job. He is working a desk job in a high rise building in the middle of Seoul's bustling commercial district. That year turns out great for him, he has his dream job, and that very year he gets married as well. Life couldn't be better: a beautiful wife, an enviable job and a promise to a good life. All of the toil and childhood sacrifices are indeed paying off.
One year later the same guy has a baby and he is still working at his great job. 8 hours 9-5; and in the evenings he runs home to his wife and newborn. That is until promotions at work come up and they have a promotion. It is not him though. It is another guy who was hired at the same time as he though. He had a habit of staying a couple of extra hours late to work for free. This little strategy paid off.
Embittered, he is now determined to put in a couple of extra hours in so that they won't pass him up for a promotion. His other office mates also don't want to be left behind, so a rat race ensues that year as to who can work the longest. In time, nobody wants to be upstaged or passed up for a promotion, so the hours become longer and longer everyday. In a short amount of time, people are working up to 16 hours a day in the office. The competition for a promotion is brutal and fierce. He can no longer come to his wife at 5 o'clock as he once did. Instead, he goes home everyday to find his wife and child asleep. Since it is late into the night, they do not wake up. He then sleeps a few hours a night only to be up and running to work very early in the morning. He gets ready, his wife and child are still asleep when he runs out the door. The only time he can interact with his wife and child are on Sundays. Welcome to the rest of your life kiddo.
Then the stress begins to take a serious toll. His relationship to his wife is severely strained. His child sees him more as a guest than a father. He has a sickly feeling everyday from sleeping so little and logging in so much free overtime daily. His hair begins to lightly gray at such a young age. Someday he will be promoted, or forced to retire early. Oh yeah, and at this point his kid is old enough to start going to a kindy hagwon. He is now enrolled for next week. Time to work more harder than ever now, for the baby's sake. Welcome to the rest of your life kiddo. Be just like daddy. This is his life. End of story.

If one can observe closely this is the life that many Koreans have. From a very young age, they are trained to work and study very hard to achieve financial success in life. But in the end, it amounts to having a incredibly stressful lice to know someone who has beenfe, all in order to "keep of with the Kims." and mantain a high position in society

Yep, excellently put. It's nice to know there's someone who's been here a few years and doesn't have his head completely up his ass.

And that's not even all of it. Is it? He may still have to offset a big chunk of his money to parents or other family members if they are not also "successful". (Korean style social welfare...)

And what do these guys do when they are in the office those extra hours. Often, no usually FC*K ALL!
They just sit around, really. It reminds me of a story told to me by a former KT colleague. One of the admin girls who would stay around all night was noted for her "dedication". My former boss who wasn't a complete idiot, and probably wasn't/isn't for this rat race of stupidity asked her "Where are the results?" There were none.......

I like a lot about Korea, but that's a joke. I have to listen to some old stupid f**&k adjosshi wailing at me in Korean because it's my fault that Koreans compete like this. Korea needs rules - PROPER LABOR LAWS to stop this joke. While we're at it - anti child abuse laws too (An hourly limit on unpaid overtime hours, and a weekly cap on after-school hours) Korean is over-educated and underemployed.

Of course, these employees are drones for the most part,
But hey! As long as the big chaebol's like Samsung are still making the money, they can keep importing Russian engineers to do their thinking for them so it's OKAAY.

And before some troll comes in here and attacks me for complaining about the long afterschool hours (to protect their revenus stream), why don't you ask yourself what it is you're supporting?

Oh and edit: Want to see a microcosm of Korean salary-man working culture. Go into a smoky PC bang full of Koreans playing Starcraft. No rules. No quiet. No respect for the health of the individual next to you.
That's your family's enemy. Clan wars!

edit edit: Can't stop writing about this. I know a KT who works at a non-franchise family run hagwon (scum in other words) Just to keep her job she has to sweep and clean the floors also. Promotion? No chance. Her rivals sweep, clean and fart around until midnight so they are ahead.

It all reminds me of a massive Japanese style food conveyor belt thingy. They queue all day and night and eventually get to their destination: Right back where they started and it never ends. It's not the system so much as many of the people in it.
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SuperFly



Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Location: In the doghouse

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One thing you got wrong about the salary men is the promotions. There are levels of promotions. For example, you get promoted to Teri (asst mgr) after three years. Three years after that, you get kwaJang. (manager) - even though you don't really manage anyone. (It's just a title) - the next level is ChaJang.

You get pay raises according to grades within those titles. It's not so much a competition between the officeworkers for the promotions as much as it is your own performance. I can't tell you what the criteria is for those grade promotions within the titles, but I can tell you that the ONLY real competition is when you've been with the company for 15-18 years and you're trying to get promoted to BuJang.

I've worked for two Korean companies. One back in the late 90's as a straight up English teacher, and one now as a regular employee with full benefits. I was hired in as a KwaJang, third grade level. That means the next step for me is ChaJang. I don't know how long I'll last though, I work 14 hours a day when I don't have class at Yonsei.

PS - Jen, you're hot, can we study together this weekend? Very Happy


Last edited by SuperFly on Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:38 pm; edited 2 times in total
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JongnoGuru



Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

anae wrote:
I would like to know what job at a company in Korea is 9 to 5, because I never saw it with my husband either at the Chaebol or at the small firm he worked at. He would leave home before 7 and leave work at 8 ot 9 at night to have dinner with me and that was leaving early. We had to move to Canada to get that lifestyle. His parents are still amazed that he is home every night by 5:30.

Very true. 9-to-5 white-collar jobs are largely a myth here.

Motion seconded. Motion carries.

Quote:
Don't even get me started about the after work obligations. I can get a little crazy when I think about that.

No please, I would like to get you started about that. This is the forum and this is the thread for it. Bring it on, the kids need to know.


Last edited by JongnoGuru on Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ChuckECheese



Joined: 20 Jul 2006

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just love watching Koreans getting stressed over nothing. They take things (even a minute little crap) too seriously. Sometimes it's like watching buncha chickens with their heads cut off not knowing what the hell to do.

I just love it. They need to realize there are more important things in life than being stressed over nothing. Laughing
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Scotticus



Joined: 18 Mar 2007

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I agree that part of it is the, almost, DESIRE, to be stressed, I think we're selling them a little short as far as how stressful their jobs actually are. I know many Koreans who are working 12 hours a day. Do that for a few years and tell me how stressed you'd be. I'd probably blow my brains out.
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