[N Job Seekers Are Flocking In] Young People Facing a 'Life with Two Commutes' Instead of a 'Life with Evenings'

Reasons for the Increasing Number of N-Job Workers

Income Decrease After the 52-Hour Workweek System
Non-Regular Workers Increased by 20.6% in 2019
84.1% of Office Workers "Willing to Have a Second Job"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Experts unanimously agree that the rapid increase of so-called ‘N-jobbers’?people who have a main job during the day and a part-time job at night?clearly reflects the difficulty of making a living with only a main job. Especially, the rise in livelihood-driven N-jobbers has accelerated amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 16th, Professor Geum Jae-ho of Korea University of Technology and Education said in a phone interview with Asia Economy that the reason for the increase in N-jobbers is "because people cannot make a living with the income from their main job, they take on second or third jobs," adding, "Although the expected standard of living has risen with national income growth, the reality of struggling to make ends meet with non-regular job income is reflected in this phenomenon."

Kim Yoo-bin, a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, offered a similar analysis. He explained, "The income gap between quality jobs and relatively poor jobs is large, so this is a phenomenon to compensate for that," and added, "The recent increase in N-jobbers among young people should be seen as a result of growing income instability."

According to a survey conducted by Job Korea in October last year targeting 642 office workers, 84.1% of respondents expressed willingness to have a second job, with the main reason being ‘additional income.’ Particularly, 86.5% of people in their 20s?the highest among all age groups?wanted additional jobs. This indicates that those with relatively unstable income are more likely to become N-jobbers.

The ‘2020 Youth Employment and Labor Statistics’ published by the Korea Labor Institute in February this year clearly shows the reasons for the increase in youth N-jobbers. The number of regular workers aged 15-29 decreased by 8.5%, from 2,443,000 in 2009 to 2,236,000 in 2019, while the number of non-regular workers increased by 20.6%, from 1,255,000 to 1,513,000.

During the same period, the average monthly salary of regular workers rose sharply by 47.7%, from 1,554,000 KRW to 2,295,000 KRW, but that of non-regular workers only increased by 17.9%, from 1,193,000 KRW to 1,406,000 KRW. This means that the number of young non-regular workers, whose income growth did not even keep pace with the 18.5% consumer price inflation over 10 years (2009 vs. 2019), has increased.

Changes in employment systems, such as the 52-hour workweek, have also played a significant role in the rise of N-jobbers. Professor Park Young-beom of Hansung University pointed out, "Due to the 52-hour workweek limiting working hours, workers at small and medium-sized enterprises who cannot receive overtime pay have seen their monthly wages decrease," adding, "Instead of a ‘life with evenings,’ it has become the ‘life of having to work two jobs’ that was feared from the introduction of this system. For them, having multiple jobs is not a ‘necessary condition’ but a ‘sufficient condition.’"

The same applies to part-time jobs. To avoid paying ‘weekly holiday pay’?which requires employers to pay an extra day’s wage if a worker works five consecutive days or more than 15 hours per week?store owners habitually split part-time shifts. For example, if an 8-hour part-time worker is needed, the shift is divided into 2-3 hours and multiple job seekers are hired. From the part-timers’ perspective, who do not want to lose income, they have to work at 2-3 different places.

The increase in livelihood-driven N-jobbers has become more pronounced after COVID-19. Research fellow Kim said, "Young people have a relatively high proportion of temporary and daily workers and are heavily employed in accommodation and food service industries, which were hit hard by COVID-19. Therefore, income instability among youth due to COVID-19 was greater than in other countries, and the increase in youth N-jobbers is a response to this," adding, "However, whether this phenomenon has become a long-term trend in our labor market or is a short-term effect of the shock requires further observation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.