"Please Pay Me at Least 3 Million Won a Month": More Than Half of Young People Today Prioritize "Working Conditions" Over Company Size

“Poor working conditions and organizational culture” top reason young people avoid SME jobs
“Salary level” most important factor when choosing a job
Many would consider SME jobs outside the Seoul metropolitan area if conditions are right

Poor working conditions and organizational culture, along with low wages, were cited as reasons young people avoid jobs at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Six out of 10 young people said they prioritize "actual working conditions" over company size.

The Korea Federation of SMEs released the results of its "Survey on Young People's Perceptions of Jobs at SMEs" on October 25 to understand young people's views on the employment market and SME jobs, as well as their policy needs. The survey was conducted among 1,000 young people aged 19 to 39 from August 26 to September 9, 2026.

The most common factor young people said they consider when choosing a job was "salary level" (64.7%). This was followed by "working hours" (51.9%) and "employment stability" (50.9%). Asked whether they place greater importance on company size or on salary and working conditions, 56.5% said they prioritize actual working conditions.

Key Factors Young People Consider When Choosing a Job. Korea Federation of SMEs

The most common reasons young people gave for avoiding jobs at SMEs were "poor working conditions and organizational culture" (52.3%), "low wages" (49.8%), "uncertainty about career and growth opportunities" (36.4%), and "concerns about employment stability" (36.3%). The main reasons young people with experience working at SMEs gave for leaving their jobs were "low salary levels" (41.4%), "poor working conditions" (37.2%), and "excessive workloads and long working hours" (37.2%).

Why Young People Avoid Working for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Korea Federation of SMEs

Less than half of young people currently working at SMEs said they intended to stay in their jobs (46.7%), while 30.6% of other young people, including those not currently employed, said they were willing to work at an SME.

More than half of young people (55.3%) said they would consider working at an SME outside the Seoul metropolitan area if the salary, benefits, job duties, and other conditions were suitable. The most important condition they cited when considering a job at an SME outside the metropolitan area was "housing support" (55.2%), followed by "competitive wages compared with the Seoul metropolitan area" (47.5%) and "transportation and commuting support" (43.9%).

The locations where respondents said they would consider working were "small and medium-sized cities outside the Seoul metropolitan area" (39.8%), "metropolitan cities" (34.2%), and "any region if the conditions are suitable" (21.0%).

Young people had a negative outlook on employment and hiring opportunities. A total of 46.6% said employment and hiring opportunities had "decreased" this year compared with last year, 39.6 percentage points higher than the 7.0% who said they had "increased." More respondents said employment and hiring opportunities would "decrease" next year (40.3%) than said they would "increase" (9.4%).

The difficulties young people face in the employment market included "requirements for job-related and practical experience when hiring entry-level employees" (52.0%), followed by "an increase in rolling recruitment focused on experienced workers" (48.7%).

Young people showed strong demand for financial assistance and improvements to working conditions, including wages and benefits, as policy support to encourage them to work at SMEs and stay in their jobs long term. Among youth support policies, the most popular were "financial assistance, such as employment incentives and income tax reductions" (40.2%), "housing support" (38.2%), "support for building savings and assets to encourage long-term employment" (33.9%), and "more opportunities to gain practical work experience" (31.2%).

The most commonly cited form of government support needed to improve the quality of SME jobs was "support to improve the wages and benefits of young people currently employed at SMEs" (62.0%). This was followed by "labor cost and social insurance premium support for hiring young people" (44.1%) and "support for talent development costs, including job training and on-the-job training" (41.6%).

Yang Okseok, head of the Human Resources Policy Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "To encourage young people to work at SMEs and stay in their jobs long term, it is important to narrow the wage and benefits gap with large companies and improve working conditions and organizational culture to create SME jobs that people want to pursue." He added, "We will strengthen support for long-term employment and improve living conditions, including housing and transportation, so that young people can settle into jobs at SMEs and help ease labor shortages at regional SMEs."

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