"No Money and No Desire to Socialize"... Spending the Year-End with Cake, Movies, and a Homecation

Half of Office Workers Choose to Stay Home
“Real Friends” Gatherings Preferred Over Awkward Office Dinners

Baek Jonghyun, a 28-year-old office worker, decided to spend this year’s end quietly. “Since the holiday falls on a Thursday, I have to go to work the next day, so it’s awkward to go out, and with expensive airfare and accommodation, I can’t even think about traveling,” Baek said. “I plan to wrap up the year simply at home, eating warm stew with my family.” Choi Yoonji, a 25-year-old university student, also plans to spend the year-end at her family home. “Rather than doing anything special, I’ll rest and recharge as usual,” Choi said. “It’s too cold to go out, so a ‘homecation’ eating cake and catching up on movies is the best.”

Watching the cafe staff decorating the Christmas tree, I suddenly realize that the year-end has quietly arrived. Each day feels slow, but before you know it, the seasons change and the year comes to an end. Looking back, as always, time flows without stopping. (In Unyang-dong, Gimpo) Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Although it is the time to wrap up the year, more people are choosing a ‘quiet year-end’ over boisterous year-end parties. Instead of attending company dinners or group gatherings, a culture of relaxing at home is taking hold. This is due to a stronger sense of individualism, combined with the economic burden caused by high inflation.

According to a survey conducted on December 27 by Embrain Trend Monitor, a market research firm, about 50% of 1,000 adult office workers responded that they plan to rest at home this year-end. In contrast, only 20-30% said they would attend company dinners or year-end parties. Sixty percent of respondents said that year-end gatherings feel financially burdensome due to rising prices and other factors.

The trend of focusing on ‘deep relationships’ rather than formal, large-scale gatherings has also become more pronounced. Some people are renting party rooms or celebrating quietly at home with a small group of friends. Lee Minji, a 26-year-old office worker, said, “I decided to rent a party room and have a small party with three friends. We set ‘cozy knitwear’ as our dress code to symbolize a warm winter. Each of us will order our favorite food for delivery and enjoy the year-end in comfort.”

Lee Youngae, a professor of consumer studies at Incheon National University, explained, “After experiencing social distancing, people’s preference for large gatherings has decreased, and as individualistic tendencies to avoid awkward atmospheres have strengthened, there is a growing sense of burden about year-end gatherings themselves. As the economic downturn has reduced disposable income, more people are making the rational choice to spend time at home rather than at costly outside events.”