Korean Workers Insecure about their Jobs

One of the topics I frequent in this information blog is the Korean workplace. Here's an article from Chosun Ilbo on Korean worker concerns. I think the article provides some valuable insights.

Chosun Ilbo
Most Korean workers feel insecure about their jobs as corporate restructuring and early retirement, a temporary fix during the IMF crisis in 1997, have become the norm regardless of the economic situation since 2000, a survey suggests.

Internet recruitment site JobKorea on Thursday announced the results of a survey of 1,556 full-time workers showing that some 45.2 percent of respondents said they felt insecure about their jobs, while 36.2 percent said they did not.

By age and gender, men in their 40s were most worried about their jobs, with a whopping 69.5 percent saying they felt insecure. Women workers in their 30s followed with 48.9 percent, 8.7 percentage points more than men in the same age group. Among those in their 20s, 37.5 percent of men felt insecure, but the figure for women was a mere 7.7 percent. Some 20.5 percent of the respondent said they felt anxious because they did not know when there would be a lay-off in their companies.

The financial industry beat all other industries, with almost all workers or 94.5 percent expressing concern about job security. Before the IMF crisis hit the country, finance was considered a sector that promised secure jobs. Those in machinery, steel and automobile (8.3 percent) and electrical equipment and electronics (16.2 percent) felt relatively secure.

When there is a high sense of insecurity about jobs among workers, the level not only of job satisfactions but of achievement will decrease, says JobKorea president Kim Hwa-soo. Businesses should therefore come up with measures to increase job security.