25 percent of Korean companies will work during Lunar New Year, survey shows

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25 percent of Korean companies will work during Lunar New Year, survey shows

Shoppers look around Cheongnyangni Market in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Jan. 19, a week ahead of the Lunar New Year. [NEWS1]

Shoppers look around Cheongnyangni Market in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Jan. 19, a week ahead of the Lunar New Year. [NEWS1]

 
The government’s designation of Jan. 27 as a public holiday is a polarizing decision for office workers, depending on the company size. While employees at large companies are taking full advantage of the temporary holiday, and the New Year bonuses, workers at small- and medium-sized enterprises are feeling a bit miffed.
 
An office worker at an LG Group subsidiary, surnamed Lee and aged 32, said he will be taking nine consecutive days off from Jan. 25 to Feb. 2. This was made possible after Jan. 27 became a public holiday and his company allowed all employees to take Jan. 31 off.
 
“I’m planning to relax at home and recharge,” Lee said.
 

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Then there’s Ahn, aged 35, who works at a small to midsize business in Gwangju. He’ll be working on Jan. 31, as usual.
 
“The 27th, at least, was designated as a temporary holiday; it’s fortunate that I can rest six days,” Ahn said, but he added that it was “disappointing that there isn’t a separate Lunar New Year bonus.”
 
Around 45 percent of companies that took the Lunar New Year off said that the holiday will last six days, according to 602 respondents with five employees or more to a survey by the Korea Enterprises Federation.
 
Of the companies who responded that they would be taking seven or more days off, 31.8 percent said the longer holiday was a part of “efforts to make workers’ lives convenient.”
 
Other reasons cited for the long resting period included “mandatory rest due to collective agreement and employment rules,” a “cost-saving measure such as to save on annual leave allowances,” and to “adjust production due to a lack of manpower,” accounting for 25.3 percent, 21.2 percent and 15.3 percent of responses, respectively.
 
Meanwhile, 25 percent of respondents said they were granting their employees fewer than five days off, meaning one out of four companies that were surveyed will be operational during either the public holiday or temporary holiday. Those companies said the arrangement “was necessary to meet the product delivery deadline or operate stores” or that “there was a lot of work to do” when asked why.
 
The number of rest days differed among companies depending on their size. Forty-two percent of companies with 300 or more employees were set to take seven or more days off, but only 29 percent of companies with fewer than 300 workers said they would take the same period off.
 
Twenty-six percent of respondents with fewer than 300 employees grant mandatory leave of five days or fewer, higher than the 16 percent for firms with 300 or more employees.
 
In contrast, large corporations, such as Hyundai Motor, LG Group, Korean Air and LS had already designated the 31st as a holiday, allowing for breaks of nine days or more.
 
Shoppers browse items in preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays at the Cheongnyangni market in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Jan. 19. [NEWS1]

Shoppers browse items in preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays at the Cheongnyangni market in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Jan. 19. [NEWS1]

 
Sixty-two percent of companies said they will give out Lunar New Year bonuses, lower by 2.1 percentage points than the 64.5 percent recorded last year. Some 78.8 percent of companies with 300 or more employees reported paying such bonuses, compared to 60.3 percent of smaller respondents.
 
A total 60.5 percent of companies responded that this year’s economy around the Lunar New Year period was worse than last year’s — the highest rate in the last five years. Just 4.4 percent of respondents felt the economy had improved, the lowest rate during the same period.
 
When questioned regarding the largest potential obstacles to achieving this year's performance goals, the largest proportion of respondents, or 61.9 percent, cited “weak demand for products or services.” This was followed by a “rise in raw material costs” with 53.2 percent; “accumulated labor cost increases” with 44.6 percent and “higher financial costs due to high interest rates” with 24.1 percent.

BY NA SANG-HYEON [[email protected]]
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