While current employees of start-up companies report higher workplace satisfaction than those who are employed at large firms or public institutions, most jobseekers are still hesitant to work for a start-up. (image: KobizMedia/Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, July 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Some even say a new era for start-ups began a couple of years ago, as they are gaining popularity, but that doesn’t seem to be the case yet for jobseekers in Korea.
While current employees of start-up companies report higher workplace satisfaction than those who are employed at large firms or public institutions, most jobseekers are still hesitant to work for a start-up.
The National Youth Commission, a presidential advisory body, held the “First Talk To Start-ups Half Year Conference” at Mic Impact, an education and consulting company located in Jongno District, Seoul on Tuesday, July 5, and announced the results of a study entitled “Working Conditions of Start-up Companies”. Members of the National Youth Commission’s 2030 policy conducted online and mobile surveys of 1,063 college students, 302 start-up employees, and 300 employees at large companies and public institutions.
According to the study, the share of employees satisfied with their working conditions was 46.4 percent for start-ups, which was a bit higher than the 40.0 percent reported for big firms and public institutions. The percentage of respondents who were ‘very satisfied’ was 14.9 percent for start-ups, almost double the value for large firms and public institutions, which came in at 7.7 percent.
The reasons behind start-up employee workplace satisfaction included working conditions (32.1%) and job responsibilities (24.2%); while job stability (29.3%) and benefits (19.0%) were the drivers of satisfaction at large firms and public institutions.
On the other hand, the biggest reason for dissatisfaction was wages. Start-up employees were not happy with their wages (42.7%) and benefits (17.2%), although large firm and public institution employees were also dissatisfied with wages (30.0%) and job responsibilities (20.3%).
However, most jobseekers are still not very interested in start-ups.
Of the surveyed college students, 29.9 percent said they would prefer to work at government or public institutions; 24.6 percent preferred large corporations; 13.8 percent preferred foreign companies; and start-ups brought up the rear with only 5.9 percent of the vote.
Choi Ah-reum, director of international cooperation at DOT, a start-up that developed the first Braille smartwatch, participated in the conference noted that, “Experience can be one of the greatest assets for young workers, and in that sense start-ups provide a great opportunity.” She further advised that, “The government needs to offer support to get jobseekers to develop more interest in start-up companies.”
“We will cooperate with other organizations in order to improve awareness of start-ups and assist with their recruitment by holding a start-up festival for year-round recruiting sometime this year,” said Park Yong-ho, Commissioner of the National Youth Commission.
The conference attendees included college students, and CEOs and employees of the four most well-known start-up companies in Korea – DOT, IDINCU (Open Survey), DRAMA & COMPANY (Remember), and Woowa Brothers Corp. (Baemin.com).
By Nonnie Kim (nkim@koreabizwire.com)
