"Can We Rest During Holidays?"... Youth Working Part-Time Even on Long Weekends

On the 17th, ahead of the major national holiday Chuseok, the Express Bus Terminal in Seocho-gu, Seoul, appeared relatively quiet. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Lee Mo (26), a job seeker working part-time at a cafe located in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, has decided to work during this Chuseok holiday as well. Due to the COVID-19 situation, he feels burdened to travel down to his hometown Busan, so he plans to study for employment in his Seoul studio apartment during his free time after working part-time. With his family’s financial difficulties, he could not ignore the offer of higher hourly wages during the holiday. He said, "I have to work when others rest to earn even one more won," adding, "In the COVID era, not going back to my hometown seems to be a way of showing filial piety, so I boldly gave up on returning home."

Among people in their 20s, 4 out of 10 plan to work part-time during this Chuseok holiday. According to a survey conducted by the job platform Alba Heaven on 1,482 people in their 20s, 44.9% responded that they have plans to work part-time during the Chuseok holiday. Especially among job seekers, 47.8% planned to work part-time, which is higher than university students (44.4%) and office workers (37.7%).

The top reason for planning to work part-time during the Chuseok holiday was 'continuing existing part-time work' (47.1%, multiple responses), followed by 'earning pocket money through short-term work' (33.8%), and 'saving a lump sum for travel expenses, tuition, etc.' (23.9%).

When looking for jobs, hourly wage (72.3%, multiple responses) was identified as the most important consideration. Also, the average desired hourly wage among people in their 20s was 10,140 won, and the average total part-time income they aimed for during the holiday period was 349,000 won.

Furthermore, the most common response regarding how they planned to use the money earned from part-time work during the Chuseok holiday was to spend it as pocket money or save it in emergency savings accounts. This was followed by spending on travel, exhibitions, concerts, games, and other cultural leisure activities, with some also planning to use it for housing costs such as monthly rent and maintenance fees.

In a survey on the most desired part-time job sectors during the Chuseok holiday, people in their 20s most frequently chose store management and guidance (76.2%, multiple responses). Packaging and manufacturing (39.5%), sales and promotion (39.2%), and distribution and production (13.1%) followed.

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