[K-Women Talk] The New Future of Work Created by Women Themselves

[Asia Economy] In the past 30 years, except for war or natural disasters, I never imagined not being able to give lectures for more than a month. However, after January 22, 2020, all lectures completely disappeared.

If it were just me, I might have considered a one or two-month break as a vacation, but I had employees to be responsible for. It only took about a month to feel the fear of unemployment and joblessness.

I was competent offline but had no knowledge of digital at all. I was used to lecturing to audiences of 500 or 1,000 people in large spaces. After COVID-19, I realized that unless I became proficient in digital, I could no longer continue my profession. From then on, I started reading newspapers every day. I carefully scanned even short articles to find any clues. As a result, the words I held onto were ‘digital’ and ‘transformation.’

Just as restaurants switched from hall serving to taking orders via mobile applications (apps) for delivery, and office workers held meetings through video calls instead of commuting, I too had to find a way to make money through lectures in the digital world.

At the same time, with elementary, middle, high schools, and universities implementing non-face-to-face education, a social consensus was reached that ‘online lectures should also be paid.’ Gaining confidence, I gathered women in their 30s to 50s who wanted to study the new world and opened the online knowledge education platform ‘MKYU (MK&You University).’ The first lecture topic I uploaded was ‘Digital Transformation.’ We invited experts from various fields and, over 16 sessions, asked questions about what we didn’t know and learned new things. More than 5,000 people took my hand and studied the digital world together.

The more I studied, the more red lights blinked in my mind. The speed at which the world was changing digitally and the speed at which people became familiar with digital were diverging too steeply. While the boom of the 4th Industrial Revolution led to a rapid increase in people investing in big tech (large information technology companies), very few were able to keep up with the technological changes led by big tech.

How can I help more people succeed in digital transformation? What can I do to bridge the digital divide that leads to wealth disparity? The answer is ‘Digital Tutor.’ In short, it is a profession that raises people’s digital literacy. It is a new social teacher who teaches how to prove oneself in the digital world, trade necessities of life, and make money.

In the past year and a half, more than 20,000 people have completed the Digital Tutor training course at MKYU, and 3,000 have obtained certification. Digital tutors teach middle-aged and older generations how to use smartphones at cultural centers in supermarkets, show restaurant owners how to increase sales using delivery apps, and teach traditional market merchants how to create loyal online customers.

When the world changes rapidly like now, experts who fill social gaps and solve problems are needed. The role of social teachers who raise people’s digital literacy is an area where women excel the most. In fact, the majority of active digital tutors are women in their 30s to 50s. Many of them earn from 600,000 to 700,000 won per month at the low end, and some earn as much as 3 million won. This is by no means a small income.

Above all, they have a high sense of satisfaction and pride in their work. Unlike existing livelihood jobs, digital tutors are socially contributive professions that help bridge the digital divide in our society, as well as value-oriented jobs that assist people’s digital transformation. This is why we look forward to a dignified job created by women themselves and a new future of work.

Kim Mikyung, CEO of MKYU