"A Strict but Effective Boss is Better"... Daehong Communications Publishes 'Korea's Deputy Manager Report'

26% of Respondents Don't Care About Promotion

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] Daehong Ki-eun announced on the 10th that it has published the "Korea Assistant Manager Report," focusing on assistant managers with 4 to 7 years of experience.

This report analyzed that assistant managers have a distinct occupational perspective compared to other ranks, and their consumption habits provide insights as a marketing target that can influence the market. For assistant managers, work-life balance and salary are no longer a matter of choice but both are indispensable. They preferred a strict but high-performing boss over a lenient but low-performing one. Additionally, they responded that they are the second most involved in choosing team dinner menus after the team leader, and regarding the ultimate promotion goal in their career, 34.5% aimed for department or division manager, followed by 26.0% who did not care.

Assistant managers do not hesitate to spend money on consumption for themselves in their overall lifestyle and showed great interest in financial investment based on sufficient purchasing power. The first high-priced items they purchased after becoming assistant managers were luxury bags and wallets (37.5%) and home appliances (34.5%), which were higher compared to junior employees. In terms of financial investment, they showed strong interest in stocks and funds (48.5%) and real estate (31.5%). They also had no aversion to digital assets, investing in cryptocurrencies (34.5%) and NFTs (13.5%).

They were found to spend significantly on self-development such as leisure activities and appearance management. The top categories for "largest lifetime spending" among assistant managers were travel, diet foods and supplements, and books and cultural activities. The proportion of those traveling at least once every 2 to 3 months was 35.3%, which is 14.5% higher than junior employees, attributed to increased car ownership leading to more domestic travel.

A Daehong Ki-eun official said, "Assistant managers, who have their own unique occupational perspectives and lifestyles, cannot be simply categorized as the typical MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), and they could become a new marketing breakthrough," adding, "It is also expected to help companies in human resource management (HR) by facilitating understanding between ranks and generations."