These days, workers and job seekers who are in their 20s often use the word “Wo-la-bel.” It is a newly coined word which refers to the idea that one can balance “work” (career and jobs) and “life” (personal and family health, recreation, and spirituality). As much as the word implies, the current young generation does not just work, but also considers maintaining the balance in their lives to be important. The Argus looked into the reason why the young workers raise their voices about “work-life balance” and how it is for those who lack a work-life balance.

Appearance of newly coined words reflects the working environment

There are many newly coined words reflect the current working environment. “Jik-jang-sal-eˮ is a word which refers to an idea that a work environment is just like that of leading a difficult married life. At first, it was used as the word to depict how new employees adjust to the company environment, but now the meaning refers to the painful stresses at work. In addition, “Sa-chukˮ is another word. It is derived from the word “Ga-chukˮ meaning domestic animals. “Sa-chukˮ depicts how workers have to adjust to working environments that are similar to those experienced by domesticated livestock. These words arouse sympathy among the young workers. No matter how much effort and time the workers put to get jobs, most young workers suffer from working overtime at night and receiving insufficient compensation. It seems like young workers are giving up their freedom because of the long working hours and vertical organizational structures at work.

Among these newly coined words, “Messenger Gam-ok,ˮ so-called “Messenger Jail,ˮ refers to an ability to contact one another 24 hours a day through their smart phones. This situation is referred to as a jail because the workers cannot avoid their bosses as their messenger applications can ring 24 hours a day and it is likely that people take smart phones everywhere they go. Since bosses are able to get in touch with workers at any time, the workers have a hard time enjoying their personal lives. Everyone needs to spend time on self-development, exercise and just enjoy their leisure time. However, since young workers are tied up at work, they are not allowed to do the things they want. These newly coined words perfectly express and reflect the realities of stifling work environments.

According to a poll conducted by Expedia, an online travel agency, among 7,855 workers in 24 countries, Korean workers took an average of 8.6 vacation days per year. Workers from France, Denmark, and Germany took 30.7, 28.6, and 27.7 vacation days, respectively. Even workers in countries such as Mexico, Thailand, and Malaysia, took more vacation days than Koreans. Far from leaving for vacation, it seems like young Korean workers will not be able to get a good reprieve for a while.

Leaving for better conditions

Every day, seven out of ten workers look at employment notices for people with experience. The online employment portal, Job Korea, conducted a survey amongst 2,467 workers at domestic and foreign companies about their career change plans this year (2015). As a result, 55.1 percent of the workers are preparing to change their jobs. Moreover, they announced that in 2015, the turnover rate of company employees was 10.2 percent. “I changed my job because at my previous company, I often had to work on weekends and work overtime, so I barely had a personal life,” said a young worker who moved from a public enterprise to the National Pension Corporation.

Since there are no longer lifelong-guaranteed workplaces and lifelong education is rising, another trend is for workers to leave their jobs and go to graduate school. Each individual is longing for a work-life balance and to gain a differentiated competitiveness from others, while the employment market is becoming more intense than ever. Even though they tried hard to get jobs, the young people were not guaranteed stable work positions, and because they want to move to better companies, they focus on self-development by preparing for certificates. Thus, the graduate school entrance rate is increasing every year.

Emergence of a corporate evaluation service

As more and more workers value their work-life balance, a service where workers can evaluate enterprises has been created. Workers can gain information about what kind of welfare and benefits they can receive as well as the atmosphere at prospective workplaces.

Job Planet was created to provide reviews of companies for those who are seeking specific working environments and prefer a stable work-life balance. The users anonymously write reviews about their annual income, atmosphere and welfare systems at their workplaces so that everyone can share the information on the site. There are both current and former workers’ reviews so users can get a sense of the complete firm data and can even compare how the company has changed over time.

Also, there is a well-known company review site called the “Glass Door.” It is an American website where employees and former ones anonymously review companies and their management. The users can evaluate an organization’s culture, values, work-life balance, chances for promotion and employees. Users also can rate enterprises from one to a maximum of five. About 30 million people have signed up for the Glass Door site, and there are about a quarter of a million companies that have been mentioned at least once on the site.
These services provide various types of information so that the work-life balance of more and more workers is guaranteed. There are already many viewers who take the reviews as reference points when seeking a job or when they are interested in changing careers or employers. They will focus on what employees care about at work. “I think work-life balance is the most important thing when getting a job. Since I decided this, I have gone through many reviews on Job Planet. I found a company where the work-life balance is guaranteed and I am now preparing my resume,” said a student surnamed Kim.

Reasons why workers consider career changes

The graph shows that young workers consider companies where the work-life balance is guaranteed and work that fits them can provide them with a great future. In 2013, according to an on-line employment portal Incruit, a survey was conducted among 946 workers who signed up as members. 98.2 percent of the members answered that they had considered changing their jobs. In addition, for most of them, the reason why they thought about leaving was due to low annual income. We can see how people have been putting more weight on work-life balance than just money and factors that are not related to individuals.

Google is one of the companies where people want to work at the most because they have an environment that can satisfy the workers. Google is known for its offices stocked with complimentary snacks, company shuttles, and ergonomically designed “huddle rooms.” The company wants to remove barriers so Googlers can focus on the things they love, both inside and outside of work. Aside from Google, there are many other big and small companies that provide a decent work-life balance to employees according to Job Planet. For example, the media/design company Union Pool, the construction company Time to Box, and Seum, a service industry firm, all have good reviews from their employees for their horizontal organizational structures and work-life balance. As there are different characteristics that are applicable to each company, IT and venture businesses find it easier to achieve proper work-life balances.

However, since many young workers are raising their voices for a decent work-life balance, it is increasingly important for companies to consider the work-life balance as a benefit for employees as it helps to keep the workforce productive and helps them to retain top employees in a tightening labor market. “Employees would most likely feel respected and appreciated by the company’s initiatives for better work-life balance, and accordingly reciprocate by working with higher motivation and productivity” said Ahn Sun-yub, a professor of Understanding of Corporate Management at HUFS.