Episode 14&15: Job Stress Among Temporary Workers in South Korea

One of the most prominent topics that is portrayed throughout the episodes 14 and 15 of “Misaeng: An Incomplete Life” is the job stress temporary employees experience in South Korea’s work environment. Even though all workers are under a lot of stress from factors such as overworking, gapjil from their superiors, and competition among themselves, temporary workers have different kind of anxiety that others do not suffer from. Unlike the permanent employees, who have chances of getting promoted based on seniority, the contract employees receive minimum wage and never get more. They receive fewer health care benefits and less unemployment insurance, and they rarely have the shield of a union (Choe, 2009).

The policy of contract employees is only beneficial to the company since they do not need to take responsibility for them. Korean non-regular workers earned only 57% as much per hour as regular workers in 2010, and their average tenure was 2.24 years compared with 8.17 years for regular workers (Park, 2016, 111). The company can fire these workers whenever they want without any compensation and this causes them to experience significantly higher job stress than regular workers. In the drama, Jang Geu-rae, who is the only temporary worker among his co-workers, does everything he can to become a regular employee. However, he faces harsh reality when he realizes that there is absolutely no chance for him to become a regular employee in One International. In episode 14, O Sang-sik tells Geu-rae that companies assess the workers based on their background, most importantly. Most workers have four years of university education, learn English abroad, and train hard to get into the company. Geu-rae, despite his excellent work performance and brilliant ideas, cannot become a regular worker due to his lack of high-level education.

The temporary workers’ high job insecurity and lack of rewards have stronger associations with poor mental health than other kinds of job stress. An extreme case is shown in the drama where O Sang-sik talks about a former employee, Lee Eun-ji, who took her own life shortly after being fired from the company. Sang-sik is devastated because he felt responsible for her. He gave her some heartfelt advices, but no matter how much effort and dedication one puts into his or her work, there is no other way if the company refuses to renew the contract. It is important for the government and organizations to improve job security and reward systems to reduce job stress among non-regular workers (Park, 2016, 111). The government is making efforts to turn the contract employees into regular employees, but the companies are going against the law for their own benefit. The employment conditions has yet to be significantly improved in Korea’s workplace.

Written By: Shirley Sion Cha

453 words according to WordCounter

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Here are some discussion questions..

   1. How can the government reinforce the law to eliminate the policy of temporary employees?

2. What can be done to improve the working conditions for a contract employee? What can prevent a worker to drift from one temporary job to another?

Bibliography:

Choe, Sang-hun. “In South Korea, a New Workers’ Grievance.” The New York Times, Jul. 22, 2009. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/business/global/23temps.html

(Accessed on Nov. 16, 2018)

Park, Soo-kyung, Min-kyoung Rhee, and Michàlle Mor Barak. "Job Stress and Mental Health among Nonregular Workers in Korea: What Dimensions of Job Stress are Associated with Mental Health?" Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health 71, no. 2 (2016): 111-118.