Danggeun Market, Drastic Spending on Employee Salaries and Benefits
Ranks No.1 in Hiring Platform Recruitment Support Rate
Amid an uncertain global economic situation and demand slump, domestic big tech companies are tightening their belts, but the secondhand trading platform 'Danggeun Market' is reportedly still actively pursuing talent acquisition.
Since last year, Danggeun Market has been aggressively recruiting developers with a groundbreaking starting salary of 65 million KRW. This amount is comparable to that of leading domestic IT companies such as Naver, Kakao, and Coupang.
Danggeun Market's 'talent treatment' goes beyond just salary. Meal and snack expenses can be paid with a corporate card, and costs for attending conferences, seminars, and study sessions are supported, with some activities even encouraged by the company.
The most famous benefit is the 'unlimited flexible vacation' system, which allows employees to take as many days off as they want without any limit. Even new employees can take vacation anytime, for any number of days, without supervisor approval, depending on their condition or needs.
As a result, the flow of MZ generation employees knocking on Danggeun Market's recruitment door never stops. It even ranked first in application rate on the job platform 'Wanted Lab' (from November 2020 to November 2021, among companies with more than 50 job postings).
High Labor Costs Burden Finances... Deficit Exceeds Revenue
However, as the company guarantees exceptional treatment for employees, labor costs are also substantial. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Danggeun Market recorded an operating loss of 55.6 billion KRW last year, exceeding its revenue (49.9 billion KRW).
The main cause of the deficit is labor costs. The amount spent on employee salaries was 32.4 billion KRW, about 2.5 times higher than the previous year. Welfare expenses also increased 2.6 times to 5 billion KRW. The number of employees rose 1.6 times from 238 at the end of 2021 to around 380 at the end of last year.
However, it is reassuring that the number of platform users is rapidly increasing through excellent service, and accordingly, the revenue growth rate is also high. The cumulative number of registered users reached 32 million last year, increasing by more than 10 million in about a year. Revenue nearly doubled from 25.7 billion KRW in 2021 to 49.9 billion KRW last year.
Despite the heavy labor cost burden, Danggeun Market is still enthusiastically conducting recruitment. Currently, there are a total of 55 job postings on the official website, including Danggeun Market and Danggeun Pay.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
