"Even With Enough Money for Life, I Won't Retire"...Office Workers' Views Shift From Dreaming of FIRE to Sustainable Work

Survey of 1,022 People... 64% Say "I Will Keep Working"
"Sustainable Work" Over Early Retirement
Clear Trend Toward Valuing Expertise and Growth

A recent survey found that even if they were to achieve financial freedom, more office workers would choose to continue working rather than retire immediately. Once seen as the dream of many workers, the so-called FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) lifestyle is now giving way to a growing preference for "sustainable work."

Office workers are walking at the Sejongno intersection in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Remember&Company, which operates the business networking service "Remember," announced on the 25th the results of its "Perceptions of Success Among Office Workers" survey of 1,022 employees. In response to the question "What is success?", 46.8% of respondents chose "financial freedom (accumulation of overwhelming wealth)" as their top priority.

To the multiple-choice question "If you had enough money to last a lifetime, what would you do?", 64.3% of respondents said they would continue working even after achieving financial freedom. Only 35.7% opted for "complete retirement." Among those who said they would keep working, the largest share, 39.0%, answered that they would continue in their current line of work. Many also said they would keep working in other forms, such as taking on new challenges like starting a business (24.3%) or engaging in activities that contribute to society (26.7%).

When asked what they felt was lacking in their work life, respondents tended to place more importance on non-monetary factors than on financial rewards. Dissatisfaction with compensation (33.1%) was highest, but when combining answers related to the "intrinsic value of work" such as growth (20.5%), meaning in work (16.6%), and opportunities (15.4%), the total came to 52.5%, exceeding the share for monetary rewards.

The "career high (peak period)" that office workers envision tended to focus more on individual expertise than on status within an organization. Only 20.4% chose "business leaders" such as executives or top management. By contrast, many selected answers emphasizing expertise and autonomy, such as "Deok-eop Ilchi," meaning making a career out of what one truly loves (24.0%), becoming a "peerless authority" with overwhelming skills (23.9%), or an "independent worker" who has secured autonomy (19.1%).

As for the "opportunities they hope to gain from work life," the most common choice was deepening job expertise (37.8%). This indicates that workers place a higher priority on strengthening their individual competitiveness than on promotion or leadership roles (17.7%). A Remember official said, "For today's office workers, work is more than just a means of earning money; it is a 'stage for growth' where they affirm their identity and add depth to their lives."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.