South Korea’s MZ generation prioritises work-life balance

KEF’s recent “MZ Generation Perception on Decent Jobs’ survey also found that the MZ generation also preferred jobs located in the Seoul metropolitan region, which paid an annual salary of around 30 million won (US$23,700).

About 66.5% of the surveyed chose ‘work and life balance’ as the most important factor (multiple choice) for determining a decent job, followed by ‘fair compensation’ at 43.3%. ‘Good welfare (32.8%)’, ‘horizontal work culture (25.9%)’ were also chosen. Only 14% opted for ‘job security’. The survey results reflect a shift in perception in which job security and compensation was considered top priority. 

And 50.9% of the respondents said that they considered ‘around 30 million won’ to be appropriate amount of compensation, followed by 27.6% of them citing ‘around 40 million won (US$31,600)’ and 12.2% saying ‘50 million won (US$39,500) or higher’ to be the appropriate amount.

The Seoul metropolitan area was the most preferred workplace location at 50.7%, much higher than provincial regions (11.6%), while 37.7% said they did not mind the location, reflecting more diversified ways of work such as working from home.

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When asked about how long they expected to work, the response was highest in the order of: less than 10 years (35.1%), until regular retirement age (29.8%), 10-20 years (27.6%) and more than 20 years (7.5%).

One thousand MZ generation job seekers aged 20 to 29 (born in 1984- 2003) participated in the survey, according to The Dong-a Ilbo.