65% of Small Business Owners Say "Minimum Wage Burden, Reducing Part-Time Jobs Next Year"

Survey of 394 Small Business Owners
Burden of Minimum Wage, Weekly Holiday Allowance, etc.
Considering Automation and Unmanned Operations

A survey revealed that 65% of small business owners plan to reduce part-time employment next year.

Korea Credit Data, a provider of management services for small business owners, announced on the 18th that a survey of 394 small business owners regarding their part-time employment plans for next year showed that 65% responded they would "reduce" part-time hires.

Small business owners planning to reduce the employment of part-time workers were found to feel burdened by labor costs such as the minimum wage, weekly holiday allowance, and severance pay for part-time workers.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Small business owners expressed concerns about labor costs such as the minimum wage, weekly holiday allowance, and severance pay for part-time workers. Instead of hiring fewer part-time workers, some small business owners are considering automating operations with kiosks and serving machines or adopting self-service bars and unmanned operations as alternatives.

One small business owner who participated in the survey explained, "Even now, it is impossible to find part-time workers at the minimum wage, so I pay more than the minimum wage to hire part-time workers," adding, "Next year, I plan to occasionally ask my spouse for help."

Responses indicating that part-time employment would be maintained numbered 131 (33.2%). These respondents cited reasons such as ▲ already reducing staff to the minimum required ▲ considering raising service prices ▲ difficulty in finding necessary staff during peak seasons.

Those who said they would expand employment numbered 8 (2.0%). These businesses were either in good management conditions, already paying more than the current minimum wage (9,620 KRW per hour) with hourly wages above 10,000 KRW, or aiming to increase sales.

One respondent said, "Skepticism about part-timers' attendance and ability to learn tasks is the biggest barrier to hiring part-time workers," while another stated, "The most burdensome cost in part-time wages is the weekly holiday allowance rather than the minimum wage." The weekly holiday allowance is a payment made under the Labor Standards Act, which assumes that workers who work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, are paid for one holiday as if they worked 8 hours.

Meanwhile, as deliberations to determine next year's minimum wage level near their final stages, labor and management sectors have respectively demanded 10,620 KRW and 9,795 KRW, showing persistent differences in positions. The minimum wage level is expected to be decided on the night of the 18th or early morning of the 19th.

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