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How do Korean employees feel about changes in working life due to Covid-19?

한국어 버전은 아래쪽에서 제공됩니다

Positive Changes in the Korean workplace During Covid 19 

Every generation has different values and thoughts. 

Millennials and Gen Zs have valued their professional and personal life, with a new focus on work-life blending overbalance.  Work is a platform for them to develop their skills, experiences and to achieve their career aspirations. These generations, especially Gen Z and younger Millennials, are not afraid to express and take action to achieve their own unique aspirations. 

As discussed in previous articles on work-life blending, work and life are equally important to them and these generations are savvy enough to look for the right ingredient to concoct their own blend of “work-life blending” 

Perhaps the biggest realization for Boomer, Gen X, (older Millennials) is with the change in focus to work-life blending from work-life balance (the end product), the ingredients to the end product have changed as well. 

How do Korean employees feel about changes in working life due to Covid-19?

If you are baking a cake, you will need flour, sugar, milk

If you are making spaghetti bolognese, you will need pasta and tomato. 

For Gen X and Bomer, team-building dinner was an important ingredient for communication and building relationships with team members, can we say the same for millennials and Gen Zs in 2021? 

Nowadays, some companies attempt different approaches for the same purpose such as watching movies together instead of having dinner, but that just like swapping out milk with skimmed milk, a lighter version of the same thing. 

In 2020, the workplace experienced unprecedented changes in Korea due to the unexpected pandemic, companies imposed new guidelines for employees to follow social distance. Interestingly, created an ideal workplace for millennials and Gen Zs.

How do Korean employees feel about changes in working life due to Covid-19?

According to a survey of 1,925 office workers on “work-life changes caused by Covid-19, 66.5% of the respondents said it was a positive change. (Source: Job Korea)

More efficient ways to spend their individual time and money were the positive results from the change. These are the ingredients that these generations seek when it comes to their work-life blending aspirations. 

Gen Zs are beginning to make an impact in society now and soon a bigger impact in your organisation. To establish a future-oriented organisational culture, we need to learn more about them, find the ingredients they seek and achieve generational diversity. Which will only server to create a competitive advantage in the organisation.

“코로나가 가져온 긍정적인 변화” 

애사심이 크고 나와 회사를 동일시하는 경향이 높았던 X세대와, 본인의 개성을 중시하고 정보의 홍수 속에서 성장한 Z세대의 가치관은 현저히 다르다. 세대 간의 갈등과 충돌은 보통 이러한 이유로 야기된다.

단편적인 예로, X세대는 회식을 팀원 간의 화합을 위한 시간이라고 인식했다면, Z세대에게는 업무 외 시간의 업무화로 인식된다. 일각에서는 사장되어야 할 문화라고 말하기도 한다. 

트렌디한 회식 문화의 도입을 위해 영화 보기 등 문화 활동을 공유하는 시간을 갖기도 하지만, 이를 보는 Z세대의 시선은 곱지 않다.

“시대착오적이에요. 그럴 돈으로 연봉이나 올려줬으면 좋겠죠. (웃음)” – 20대, 취업준비생 

하지만 예기치 못했던 팬데믹이 오면서, 사회적 거리 두기가 실시됨에 따라 변경된 업무 지침은 밀레니얼 세대와 Z세대가 추구하는 업무 방식과 비슷한 방향성을 가진다.

How do Korean employees feel about changes in working life due to Covid-19?

코로나19로 인한 직장 생활 변화”에 관련하여 직장인 1,925명을 대상으로 조사한 결과 66.5%의 응답자가 긍정적인 변화라고 응답했다. (출처 : 잡코리아)

응답한 항목들에는 하나의 공통점이 있었다. 바로 개인의 시간과 비용이 절감된다는 것이다. 일과 개인의 시간을 분리하기를 원하는 MZ 세대에 적합한 시스템인 셈이다.

아직은 사회 초년생에 불과하지만, 시간이 흐름에 따라 기업의 수뇌부를 장악할 MZ세대에게 이러한 변화는 매우 반가운 소식이다. 미래지향적인 사내 문화를 정착해 나가려면 이들에게 배워야 한다. 그들을 더 잘 알고, 원하는 바를 이해함에 따라 세대간의 융합을 이루어낼 수 있으리라 믿는다.

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#leadership #compassion #remoteworking #working #newnormal

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