"K Companies Feeling Recession: 'Stay at Motels and Use Corporate Cards Discreetly' on Business Trips"

Worsened Employee Welfare Amid Economic Recession
More Frightening Than Welfare Cuts Is Job Insecurity

At the end of last month, local U.S. media outlets such as The New York Times (NYT) and Insider reported that the social networking service (SNS) platform 'Twitter' headquarters ran out of toilet paper. It was said to be a mishap caused by CEO Elon Musk terminating the cleaning service contract as part of the company's cost-cutting plan.

Even a representative Silicon Valley big tech company with over 100 million users is struggling to survive, which can be interpreted as a signal that the current economic situation is serious.

Similar phenomena are occurring at domestic companies as well. Especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups are tightening their belts, leading to complaints from office workers erupting everywhere.

"Even Using Corporate Cards Feels Awkward" Life for Office Workers Gets Tougher

A view of a domestic small and medium-sized enterprise factory. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

All the SME employees interviewed by our reporter agreed that workplace welfare conditions have become much tougher compared to last year. A (29), an employee at a machinery installation company in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, lamented that the convenience during business trips has noticeably decreased.

He said, "Last year, when I went on a long business trip, the company booked a nice hotel saying they appreciated the hard work, but now, even for long stays, most of the time I end up staying in shabby motels." He added, "Even using the corporate card once feels like walking on eggshells," and said, "This is how I feel the recession has arrived."

B (31), who produces videos at a PR firm in Seoul, said, "It was a strict workplace from the start, so there was hardly any welfare," but added, "Now, even basic working conditions are not properly provided."

He said, "I personally buy consumables like mice and chargers," and added, "Although these are trivial items costing about 5,000 to 6,000 won each, with endless work and stagnant wages, it’s naturally demoralizing."

IT Companies Also Tighten Belts as 'COVID-19 Boom' Ends

IT companies and game companies are also reducing labor costs. / Photo by Yonhap News

Tightening belts is the same for IT companies and startups. Kakao, one of the two major domestic tech companies, plans to implement an 'Office First' work system prioritizing office attendance starting March 1. This is because a dense work environment has become important due to the global economic downturn, and it is a measure to reduce communication costs.

Game companies and startups, which were actively recruiting developers during the COVID-19 pandemic amid the trend of non-face-to-face services, are also focusing on reducing hiring scale and cutting labor costs.

Venture capital (VC), the main funding source for startups, has also frozen along with investment sentiment. According to 'The VC,' a startup investment information company, in the fourth quarter of last year, the number of domestic VC investments was 318 deals, totaling 2.2137 trillion won, down 47% in number and 49% in scale compared to the previous year.

Employment Insecurity a Bigger Concern than Welfare Cuts

Eight out of ten office workers reported feeling job insecurity.

Although job satisfaction is declining due to reduced welfare benefits, what troubles office workers more is 'employment insecurity.'

This is because companies that are about to close due to running out of cash are actively engaging in layoffs and restructuring, increasing the number of people being fired. Concerns about job security have overshadowed other worries.

Last month, the job application 'Byeolgok Market' conducted a survey of 1,200 domestic office workers, and 77.3% of respondents said they "feel employment insecurity."

Non-regular workers (89.9%) felt more employment insecurity than regular workers (67.3%), women (82.7%) more than men (72.3%), and employees of SMEs (85.8%) were much more anxious than those at mid-sized companies (69.0%) or large corporations (62.1%).

When asked to assume a situation where restructuring is imminent, 38.2% of office workers responded, "If proper financial compensation is provided, (being subject to restructuring) would be okay," and 20.8% said, "We should prevent restructuring even if it means salary cuts and welfare reductions." This indicates that quite a few are willing to sacrifice some working conditions to maintain their jobs unless they can receive generous severance pay.

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