Most Korean Workers Participate in or Consider Side Jobs

As the household economy deteriorates, a growing number of Korean workers are seeking or contemplating side jobs, with the most popular options involving operating social media services such as blogs and YouTube channels, according to a recent survey.

Conducted by jobs research newspaper Flea Market, the survey involving 1,328 workers showed that 81.5% of respondents reported that their family’s economy had worsened this year compared to the previous year. The main factor cited was inflation, which affected 79% of respondents, followed by a salary reduction of 8.9%, an increase in interest rates of 6.6% and debt growth of 4.2%.

As a result, 26.8% of respondents are currently involved in side jobs, while 55.3% are considering taking on additional work. Those who have no intention of pursuing something on the side represented 17.9% of the group surveyed.

Among workers who are already involved in parallel work, the main reason cited was the inability to sustain their livelihood on their main wages alone, with 55.1% of respondents indicating this as their motivation. Other reasons included saving a fixed amount of money (19.1%), paying off debt (10.7%), enjoying free time (6.7%), and preparing for retirement (5.1%).

Working on social media, such as blogs and YouTube channels, was the most popular side job, with 20.2% of respondents involved in this type of work. Next came work in events and ceremonies (17.4%), serving in restaurants (11.2%) and deliveries (9%).

The average monthly income earned from these second jobs was 623,000 won (RM1,996), with men earning an average of 712,000 won and women earning 534,000 won.

Even among workers who considered something parallel, the main motivation was the inability to support their subsistence with their salaries alone, cited by 43.3% of respondents.

Regarding the types of extra jobs they hope to do, working on social media was the preferred option, chosen by 15.9%. This was followed by assisting in office work (10.4%), managing and making sales in stores (9.7%), delivery work (9.7%), serving in restaurants (9.3%) and working in cafeteria (9%). – The Korea Herald/ANN