Only 67% of Domestic Companies Pay Lunar New Year Bonuses

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The proportion of companies planning to pay Lunar New Year bonuses this year has decreased compared to last year.

The Korea Employers Federation announced the results of the '2023 Lunar New Year Holiday Survey' conducted on 785 companies with five or more employees nationwide on the 15th.

The proportion of companies planning to pay Lunar New Year bonuses this year was 67.2%, down 1.9 percentage points from last year. The rate of companies paying bonuses was higher among companies with 300 or more employees (73.6%) than those with fewer than 300 employees (66.4%).

Also, 89.6% of companies said they would pay Lunar New Year bonuses at the same level as last year. Only 6.7% responded that they would pay more than last year.

53.8% of respondent companies said the economic situation during this Lunar New Year has worsened compared to last year. Only 4.5% said it had improved.

Regarding this year's business performance outlook, 38.5% expected a deterioration compared to last year, the highest proportion.

When asked about the factors expected to be the biggest burden on this year's corporate operating performance, responses included 'rising raw material prices' (54.7%), 'weak product demand due to economic recession' (46.7%), and 'rising labor costs' (44.5%).

Additionally, 81.4% of respondent companies said they would take a four-day holiday this year. The proportions of companies taking five or more days and three or fewer days off were 11.2% and 7.4%, respectively.