"Forced Resignations and Long Working Hours Rampant"… IT Union Launches Industry Survey

One-Month Survey on IT and Game Industry and Workers

The IT Committee of the Korean Federation of Textile, Chemical, Food, and Service Workers' Unions (hereinafter IT Committee) announced on the 30th that it will launch a survey on the IT industry and workers' conditions to improve the labor conditions of workers in the IT and gaming industries.

Aerial view of the domestic IT industrial complex, Pangyo Technovalley.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The IT Committee includes members from Naver, Nexon, Netmarble, Smilegate, CDNetworks, NCSoft, NHN, Webzen, Interpark Yanolja, Hancom, and others. This is the result of the recent wave of union establishments in the IT sector, which had long been considered a "union desert."

However, the IT Committee is concerned about the growing gap in labor conditions between major corporations where unions have been established and workplaces where they have not. While cases of severe labor issues in certain companies with poor working environments have been highlighted, there is no comprehensive data that captures the overall state of the IT industry.

The IT Committee stated, "In the case of long working hours, many IT companies implement a comprehensive wage system and rarely record working hours," adding, "Employment insecurity is effectively close to dismissal but is carried out in the form of voluntary resignation, making it difficult to track." Due to the frequent rise and fall of many companies, there is almost no accurate data on the current status of companies within the IT industry.

Accordingly, the IT Committee will begin a survey on the IT industry and labor conditions. Over about a month until the 31st of next month, various communities, surveys, and in-depth interviews will be conducted. Afterwards, the findings will be shared through National Assembly forums and other events to explore ways for IT workers to work in better environments than now. The IT Committee said, "We want to emphasize the importance of accurately understanding the situation faced by IT workers in harsh conditions and appeal for active participation."

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