[Exclusive] "Who Can Come to Work?" Coupang Sends Texts to Employees in Self-Quarantine

Text Message Sent to Bucheon and Goyang Logistics Center Workers in Self-Quarantine for 'Weekly Shift Recruitment'
Coupang "Mistake Due to System Error... Will Prevent Recurrence"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Coupang is drawing criticism for sending a notice asking employees under self-quarantine due to a cluster infection at its logistics centers whether they can come to work. This appears to be a mishap that occurred in the rush to find additional workers as shipments were concentrated at other centers following the closure of the Bucheon and Goyang logistics centers. Coupang is also facing criticism for not responding properly at the early stage of the cluster infection, thus failing to take responsibility for escalating the situation.

Those who have worked at Coupang’s Bucheon and Goyang logistics centers received a text message from a company official on the afternoon of the 31st of last month. The message titled "Incheon Coupang 4 Center Short-term Recruitment" stated, "Employees who can work part-time in sorting and loading during the day shift (08:00?18:00) are requested to reply according to the text support format."

The Bucheon and Goyang centers are key bases for delivering "Rocket Fresh (fresh food)" in Seoul and the metropolitan area. However, as these two locations were closed due to cluster infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), shipments have been concentrated at logistics centers in Incheon and Osan, Gyeonggi Province. It seems this mistake occurred during the process of recruiting additional workers.

Immediately after the text message was sent, criticism poured in on an anonymous KakaoTalk chatroom where workers gathered. All those who worked at the Bucheon and Goyang logistics centers were included in the full testing target and placed under self-quarantine, so they found it absurd to receive a message asking if they could come to work.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A (32), who has been classified as self-quarantined since the 26th of last month, said, "My entire life has been ruined just because I worked at Coupang, so receiving such a message was ridiculous," and lamented, "Isn't this a mistake that should never have been made to employees who are suffering?"

As protests from workers surged, Coupang explained about an hour after sending the first message that it was a "system error" and announced, "Please delete the message." Coupang headquarters also reiterated that it was a system error and pledged, "We will ensure this does not happen again."

This is not the first time controversy has arisen over Coupang’s response after confirmed cases appeared. Coupang has been criticized for not disclosing the movement paths of confirmed cases within the Bucheon logistics center to employees, thereby neglecting community infection.

Additionally, there have been criticisms that Coupang has not smoothly reimbursed testing costs for workers who underwent diagnostic tests at hospitals rather than public health centers. Previously, Coupang announced regarding the "employee COVID-19 full survey" that "when using hospitals, medical expenses are to be prepaid by employees and later supported by the company." However, worker B expressed dissatisfaction, saying, "The contact number for billing the medical expenses has been unreachable for several days."