People watch the year’s first sunrise at a beach in Gangneung on South Korea’s east coast on Jan. 1, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly 80 percent of South Korean workers picked a wage hike as their top wish for the new year, a survey showed Sunday.
According to a survey of 1,000 Korean workers conducted by a pro-labor civic group Gabjil 119, 78 percent picked “wage hike” as their new year wish, followed by a reduction in work hours at 22.4 percent and better work-life balance at 20.1 percent.
The No. 2 new year wish was “moving to a better company” for those in their 20s, “reduction in work hours” for those in their 30s and “better work-life balance” for those in their 40s and 50s.
Among the respondents, 92.3 percent said that their real wages had actually declined due to high inflation.
In the meantime, 51.2 percent of female workers, 52.5 percent of non-regular workers and 55.6 percent of the workers employed at companies with fewer than five employees expected that instances of workplace bullying would not decrease.
In contrast, 62.6 percent of male workers, 62.8 percent of regular workers and 66.2 percent of employees at companies with more than 300 workers presented a positive outlook, saying that instances of workplace bullying will decrease.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
