Staff Cafeteria Closed on 2nd and 4th Fridays... Employees Encouraged to Dine at Nearby Restaurants
"Revitalizing Local Businesses... Hoping to Support Small Business Owners"
Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijeong is communicating with employees from busy departments while having lunch at a restaurant near the city hall on December 27 last year. To revive the local economy, Gwangju City operated a "Day to Use Nearby Restaurants" by closing the in-house cafeteria on December 24 and 27 last year, and January 23 this year. Photo by Gwangju City
Public officials in Gwangju City are joining the ‘good consumption’ movement to stimulate sluggish spending and boost the economic vitality of small business owners.
On the 1st, Gwangju City announced that starting in April, the staff cafeteria will be closed for lunch on the second and fourth Fridays of every month. Previously, the cafeteria closure policy only applied to dinner twice a week?on Wednesdays (Family Love Day) and Fridays (to revitalize the local economy). This new measure expands the closure to include lunch twice a month.
This initiative was introduced to foster a culture of proactive consumption among all city hall employees, as small business owners and the self-employed face increasing difficulties due to prolonged high inflation and economic downturn.
To help revive the local economy, which has been hit hard by emergency measures and political turmoil, the city closed the staff cafeteria twice last year?on December 24 and 27?and designated these days as ‘Use a nearby restaurant day’ to help share the burden of small business owners and the self-employed.
Additionally, on January 23, the city launched the ‘2025 Gwangju Economy Together ChakChakChak (Good Consumption, Good Finance, Good Jobs) Gwangju’ campaign in partnership with 76 organizations and groups from economic and industrial sectors, taking active steps to revitalize the stagnant local economy. On this day as well, the staff cafeteria was closed to support local businesses.
As part of the ‘2025 Gwangju Economy Together ChakChakChak’ policy to support the local economy, the city is also running ongoing consumption promotion campaigns in the first quarter of this year, such as ▲using traditional markets and neighborhood stores ▲using public delivery apps, and more.
Hwang Inchae, head of the General Affairs Division, stated, “The decision to close the staff cafeteria was made to share the burden and show solidarity with small business owners,” adding, “About 900 people use the cafeteria each day, so if they dine at nearby restaurants instead, we expect it will help bring some vitality back to struggling local businesses.”
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