Korean Job Discussion Forums

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

"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

caniff · Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map

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.

mehamrick · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

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

Ginormousaurus · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

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

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

frankhenry · Joined: 13 Mar 2007

rednblack · Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Location: In a quiet place

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

anae · Joined: 13 May 2003 Location: cowtown

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.

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

Matt_22 · Joined: 22 Nov 2006

i blame it on the hideous flourescent lighting

leebumlik69 · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:57 am Post subject:

SuperFly · Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Location: In the doghouse

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

JongnoGuru · Joined: 25 May 2004 Location: peeing on your doorstep

ChuckECheese · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

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

Scotticus · Joined: 18 Mar 2007

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.