"Lunar New Year Holiday? I Need to Make Money"...Seven Out of Ten Part-Time Workers Head to Work

Nearly 80% of Business Owners Plan to Keep Stores Open

#. Job seeker Park Junho (28) gave up going back to his hometown for Lunar New Year and instead chose a part-time job at a rice cake shop that pays an hourly wage of 12,000 won. Park said, "As a job seeker, I felt awkward facing my relatives, but the owner happened to be looking for extra help, so I got a good excuse," adding, "Short-term part-time jobs are hard to find, so I plan to work hard and save up for my academy tuition."

#. College student Lee (23) started a short-term part-time job this week at a cafe that sharply increased its hiring for the holiday rush. Lee said, "I applied right away after seeing a job posting that said they pay 1.5 times the usual hourly wage for work during the holidays," and added, "With the extra holiday pay, it is much more profitable than taking time off."

Seven out of ten part-time workers will keep working without a break during this Lunar New Year holiday.

According to Albamon, a job search portal specializing in part-time positions, on the 17th, when it surveyed 1,331 part-time workers last month about their work plans for the Lunar New Year, 66.9% of respondents said, "I will work during the Lunar New Year holiday." In particular, the share of workers in the service industry was overwhelming. Among major service sectors such as food service and beverages, driving and delivery, and distribution and sales, more than 70% said they planned to work during the holiday.

The biggest reason for choosing to work during the holiday was "securing income." Part-time workers cited "pay (75.4% - multiple responses)" as the most important factor when considering holiday work. This was followed by working hours (42.6%) and distance to the workplace (32.8%). In addition to the 53.3% who said they would continue their existing jobs, 32.8% responded that they would also take on an additional short-term holiday part-time job, underscoring the strong demand for income during the holiday period.

Expectations for compensation have also risen. The most preferred hourly wage during the holiday period was in the 15,000 to 15,999 won range, cited by 24.0% of respondents, followed by 12,000 to 12,999 won at 22.8%.

The most common plan for how to use wages earned during the holiday was saving, which accounted for 42.2%.

Meanwhile, business owners are also proactive about operating during the holiday. A total of 79.5% of "bosses" said they planned to keep their stores open during the Lunar New Year holiday, and among them, 47.9% said they had hired or were planning to hire new part-time workers to fill holiday staffing gaps. Many of the business owners planning new hires were also considering employing foreign part-time workers.