Instead of Company Dinners, Challenges in New Year's Literary Contests and Foreign Language Certifications... How COVID-19 Changed Year-End Customs for Office Workers

Forced Leisure Leading to Dreams Achieved
Self-Development through Language and Certifications
Also Challenging the Sinchunmunye Literary Contest

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Office worker Lee Seung-hyun (31) has decided to challenge the New Year's Literary Contest held by a newspaper company at the end of this year. To meet the mid-month deadline, he is currently busy with the final proofreading work during remote work breaks. Lee, who has dreamed of becoming a novelist since childhood, found an opportunity this year as leisure time increased due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). He said, "I am focusing on the final work by minimizing lunchtime," adding, "Writing is the only source of vitality in a daily life made lethargic by COVID-19."

The year-end atmosphere amid the spread of COVID-19 has changed significantly compared to previous years. Company dinners and gatherings have been canceled, and travel is out of reach. More office workers are trying to turn their increased leisure time into opportunities for self-development rather than just watching videos or engaging in hobbies. The term "Saldent," a combination of "salaryman" (office worker) and "student," referring to office workers who study, has also become popular this year.

Kim Eun-sol (36), an employee in the overseas sales department of a mid-sized company, is dedicating herself to studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). Kim said, "Since overtime and company dinners have almost disappeared, my evenings have become more relaxed, and I was able to start studying Japanese, which I had always wanted to do." The activation of remote work and the non-face-to-face trend have changed the year-end customs of office workers in this way.

According to a survey conducted by the job portal Incruit targeting 663 corporate members on year-end in-house schedules, only 9.0% of participating companies planned 'year-end corporate events' such as year-end parties and dinners this month. This is about one-seventh of last year's 66.2%. Additionally, about a quarter of the planned events in these companies are expected to be conducted non-face-to-face. The event contents include 'year-end gifts and gift certificates distribution' (12.0%), 'CEO greetings delivered via email' (6.7%), and 'non-face-to-face dinners and year-end programs conducted through video conferencing systems' (5.3%).