Young S.Koreans dread revival of work dinners as pandemic eases

SK Telecom Co

28/04/2022 04:29

By Soo-hyang Choi
    SEOUL, April 28 (Reuters) - When South Korea announced its
decision to lift most COVID-19 restrictions earlier this month,
29-year-old office worker Jang was more concerned than happy.
    The end of social distancing revived the time-honoured
office ritual of after-work meal gatherings, part of a tradition
called "hoeshik" in Korean. Jang was among the increasing number
of young workers here who consider it an obsolete company
culture that intrudes on employees' personal time.
    "Hoeshik is part of your work life, except it's unpaid,"
said Jang, who lives and works in Seoul. She asked to be
identified only by her last name in order to speak candidly
about her employer.
    Beginning last week, South Korea removed a midnight curfew
on bars and restaurants, along with a cap of 10 people for
private gatherings. The rules had served as guidelines for
companies to adopt remote work policy and rein in non-essential
gatherings, such as the off-hours drinking sessions.
    "The worst part about the after-work dinners is that you
don't know when it'll end. With drinks, it could really continue
well into the night until who knows when," Jang said.
   Even before the pandemic, an increasing number of South
Koreans, particularly younger workers, were already souring on
company dinners and similar events, such as company retreats or
weekend hiking with co-workers. 
    The pandemic may ensure that the old hoeshik culture is
fading for good, an expert said.
    "Now that employees know what it's like to have off-hours
kept for themselves, companies won't be able to fully restore
the old after-dinner and weekend gathering culture," Suh
Yong-gu, a marketing professor at Sookmyung Women's University
in Seoul, said. 
    According to a recent survey by Incruit Corp, a recruiting
website operator, nearly 80% of respondents said their
companies' meal-gathering culture had changed during the
pandemic, with 95% of them expressing satisfaction over the
change.
    The past two years taught Jang what hoeshik-free evenings
were like. She spent more time to keep her house clean, make
herself a good dinner and work out.
    Kim Woon-bong, 30, who began working for a city government
last year, said he felt lucky not having had to go through the
mandatory hoeshik culture, thanks to the distancing rules.
    "I actually liked meal gatherings held during lunch hours,
because I knew they would end at 1 p.m.," he said. "I am
cautiously hoping the company dinner culture will change now
that it has been almost gone for two years."
    Despite young employees' growing displeasure with after-work
dinners, many senior workers still believe such gatherings are
necessary to build bonds with colleagues, Professor Suh said. 
    "It will be yet another conflict between the old and new
generation," he said. "But even if the after-dinner and
weekend-gathering culture manages to survive, they won't be able
to be held as often as they used to be." 
    While many companies are gradually returning to their
offices, some are seeking to find a middle ground, opting for
hybrid models instead of implementing a full-fledge
return-to-office scheme.
    SK Telecom Co Ltd  017670.KS , for one, is operating new
workspaces to allow its employees to choose whether to work from
home, at their head office, or at small dispersed work spaces
that the company has opened.
    "We don't have specific guidance on company dinners, but
they will be less frequent when many of our employees are
working from home," a company official said, asking not to be
named as he was not authorised to talk to media. 
    "The key is that we don't mind where our employees work or
how often they come to the office, as long as it helps improve
their efficiency."

 (Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Josh Smith and Bradley
Perrett)
 ((soohyang.choi@thomsonreuters.com;))