[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Job Planet, a corporate information platform, announced on the 1st that it selected the 'Best Companies to Work for in the First Half of 2022' based on company evaluations within Job Planet for the first half of this year.
This evaluation rated companies on a 10-point scale by adding five categories?salary and welfare, work-life balance, corporate culture, management, and promotion opportunities and potential?to the overall satisfaction score for each company.
Korea Midland Power ranked first in the overall category for best companies to work for with a total score of 8.86. Korea Midland Power had already ranked third in the overall category of Job Planet's '2022 Companies to Watch.'
Korea Midland Power recorded high satisfaction across all categories, including salary and welfare (4.77), work-life balance (4.58), and corporate culture (4.19). Actual reviews praised the company for "flexible working hours and a horizontal atmosphere without pressure" and "good salary and welfare." However, the work location was a downside. Many reviews mentioned "a common drawback of power plants is remote work locations" and "it can be tough if assigned to a place without local ties, but if you adapt well, it's an excellent place."
Bain & Company Korea scored 8.74 points, ranking second overall. As one of the world's top three consulting firms, many reviews highlighted the opportunity for members to learn and grow significantly, as well as satisfaction with the salary. The satisfaction scores were generally high across most categories, including promotion and growth potential (4.7), salary and welfare (4.9), corporate culture (4.5), and management (4.1).
However, as expected from the reputation of consulting firms for heavy workloads, the work-life balance category scored only 3 points, lower than other areas. Even members who rated other categories highly described the work-life balance as "lots of overtime" and "terrible work-life balance."
Google Korea ranked third with 8.69 points. Google, which has never missed the top ranks in the best companies to work for list, ranked third overall this year and second among foreign companies. Google Korea scored above 4 points in all five categories: promotion and growth potential (4.08), salary and welfare (4.31), work-life balance (4.35), corporate culture (4.54), and management (4.27).
When asked if they would recommend Google Korea to a friend, 92% responded affirmatively. It received consistently high evaluations across all categories, including 73% for growth potential and 85% CEO approval rating. However, due to the nature of foreign companies' Korean offices, drawbacks such as "limited authority and autonomy of the local team" and "feeling that Google Korea's voice is not strong at the global level" were pointed out.
Nexon's affiliate and developer of 'Dungeon & Fighter (DNF)' and 'Cyphers,' Neople, ranked first among large corporations with 8.52 points and seventh overall. Employees expressed great satisfaction with the extensive welfare benefits provided by the company, to the extent that they rarely need to spend money themselves. The company provides three meals a day, operates shuttle buses, and even the food is reportedly delicious.
However, opinions on working in Jeju Island were mixed. While some reviews said, "It's great because it's Jeju Island," others noted, "If you come from city life or work away from family, it can be tough," and "It may be difficult to adapt because it's Jeju Island."
Naver Webtoon scored 8.45 points, ranking second among large corporations and tenth overall. Reflecting the growth of the webtoon market, it received scores in the 4-point range across most categories. Salary and welfare scored the highest at 4.46. Members detailed advantages such as "high starting salary for non-developers and generous incentives, welfare benefits identical to Naver, remote work, Naver gift certificates, free three meals a day, six months of leave after three years of service, workation, actual expense insurance, stock options, alignment of work and passion, young employees, and a free atmosphere."
The downside was work-life balance. Many reviews noted, "Miscellaneous tasks keep piling up; work-life balance is poor," or "Don't expect work-life balance." It was the only evaluation category to score in the 3-point range (3.58), reminding that companies with high salaries also have heavy workloads.
NH Investment & Securities scored 8.36 points, ranking third among large corporations and eleventh overall. NH Investment & Securities had previously ranked first among large corporations in the salary and welfare category in Job Planet's '2022 Companies to Watch.' In this evaluation, salary and welfare again showed the highest satisfaction with a score of 4.42. Current employees praised it as "so good that it's called the civil servant of the securities industry, with high salaries, appropriate work intensity, good corporate culture, and welfare." On the downside, "conservative atmosphere," "vertical culture," and "discrimination between regular and contract employees" were mentioned.
Among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies, AB180, a global Mar-tech (marketing and technology hybrid) specialist, ranked first with 8.31 points, placing 13th overall. Founded in 2015, AB180 helps clients with digital marketing through its self-developed marketing performance analysis solution Airbridge and consulting services. It is preparing to enter the U.S. market in earnest in the second half of this year.
As a rapidly growing startup, it received high marks for growth potential, with 87% of members predicting further growth next year. It also scored highly in corporate culture (4.4), management (4.2), and CEO approval rating (93%). However, as a growing startup, it was noted that the lack of structure, high work intensity, and insufficient salary compensation are areas needing improvement.
Lunit, which ranked first in Job Planet's 2022 Companies to Watch, scored 8.13 points and ranked second among SMEs and mid-sized companies in this first half-year review. Lunit develops solutions contributing to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, including cancer, based on deep learning AI technology.
Members expressed high satisfaction with corporate culture (4.5), and work-life balance (4.25) and management (4.17) also scored above 4 points. However, compensation aspects such as salary and welfare received a somewhat lower score of 3.83. Although it is rapidly growing from a startup to preparing for listing, concerns about lack of structure as the organization grows were evident.
Daehaknaeil scored 8.13 points, tying with Lunit for second place among SMEs and mid-sized companies. Members mentioned strengths such as "good welfare, many opportunities for discussion and opinion sharing, good work-life balance, and relatively high starting salary." It was noted as "probably the top salary among advertising agencies, transparently operated in all aspects, and good welfare," showing high satisfaction in many areas.
On the downside, due to the nature of agencies, stress from clients or experiencing power harassment was mentioned. Also, teams operate almost like separate organizations, leading to significant differences between teams, and even internal policies are applied differently by team, which was seen as a drawback.
This review highlighted the remarkable progress of public enterprises and foreign companies overall. Except for two large corporations within the top 10 overall rankings, public enterprises and foreign companies dominated the rankings. Only one startup or mid-sized/small company made it into the top 20.
Considering that IT companies, especially mid-sized and small startups, occupied the top ranks in the '2022 Companies to Watch' selected based on reviews from 2021, this represents a noticeable shift within six months. This appears to reflect how changes in the market environment have influenced employee satisfaction.
Last year, the IT industry saw active investment like never before, with many talents moving to startups. Companies significantly raised salaries, especially for developers, and introduced various welfare programs to improve working conditions. Consequently, reviews of IT startups frequently mentioned 'future growth' and 'good colleagues' as key advantages. Above all, 'flexible working styles' and 'horizontal communication' received high marks in the corporate culture category.
However, with the overall market downturn this year, the value of relatively stable public enterprises and global companies seems to have been reappraised. These companies received high scores for satisfactory salaries and welfare based on stable business operations. Although public enterprises were perceived as having a 'conservative and vertical atmosphere,' top-ranking public enterprises mentioned 'horizontal atmosphere' and 'flexible working styles' as strengths.
A Job Planet official stated, "Many public enterprises implemented flexible work systems such as remote work and flexible commuting hours during COVID-19," adding, "By maintaining these practices steadily, they have internalized flexible work environments and horizontal atmospheres, leading to high satisfaction in work-life balance and corporate culture."
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