Nearly one in three South Korean workers has either experienced or witnessed situations where employers pressure employees to resign voluntarily. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 10 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent survey has revealed that nearly one in three South Korean workers has either experienced or witnessed situations where employers pressure employees to resign voluntarily rather than formally terminate their employment.
According to a survey conducted by Global Research on behalf of the workplace advocacy group Gabjil 119, 27% of respondents reported experiencing or witnessing forced resignation situations. The survey, conducted in December 2024, polled 1,000 workers nationwide aged 19 and above, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Among the reported tactics, the most common form of forced resignation was “verbal notification of termination or recommended resignation followed by withholding work assignments,” experienced or witnessed by 15.3% of respondents. Other methods included “posting job listings for the employee’s current position” (11.5%) and “blocking access to office servers and networks” (10.5%).
Gabjil 119 warns that these practices could undermine existing laws and systems designed to protect workers from arbitrary dismissal. “We need to establish consistent criteria for determining cases of disguised dismissal, even when they appear on the surface as voluntary resignations or recommended departures,” said Yang Hyun-jun, an attorney with the organization.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
