"Hey, bring the receipt"... Half of MZ Employees Feel Insulted by Bosses' Informal Speech

81% of Employees Agree on the Necessity of Honorifics in the Workplace

A survey found that 50% of office workers have experienced being spoken to informally (banmal) by their superiors, and half of them felt discomfort or humiliation because of it. In other words, one out of four office workers felt unpleasant due to their superior's use of banmal.

Workplace Gapjil 119 Online Union commissioned the public opinion research firm Global Research to conduct a survey of 1,000 office workers from September 2 to 10, and announced these results on the 25th.

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According to the survey, 50.2% of respondents answered "yes" to the question, "Have you ever experienced a user, superior, or colleague speaking to you informally (banmal) regarding work at your company?" For the item, "Is there a culture in your company or department where superiors speaking informally to subordinates about work is considered natural?" nearly half, 42.1%, responded "yes."

Among respondents who had experienced informal speech from superiors or others, 44.4% reported feeling discomfort or humiliation, with the highest rate of such feelings at 50.3% among regular employees. Regarding the necessity of using honorific speech in the workplace, 81.1% of office workers agreed. By respondent characteristics, the agreement was relatively higher among women (85.2%), people in their 20s (84%), and regular employees (84.5%).

Earlier, a counseling post on the Workplace Gapjil 119 open chat room in September sparked controversy, stating, "A male superior who is 12 years older says, 'Hey, bring the receipt,' mixing informal and honorific speech. He mainly uses informal speech with younger colleagues. I feel very uncomfortable."

Jang Jong-su, labor attorney and secretary general of the Online Union, pointed out, "The workplace is a special space where informal speech is possible without consent, and problems caused by it frequently occur. Banmal reinforces hierarchical differences and entrenched relationships, making it more difficult to resist gapjil (power harassment)."