Koreans no longer want to eat with their peers
According to a report published last month, Koreans no longer want to have lunch with their colleagues.
According to a Korea Institute of Public Administration report on civil servants’ values and organizational innovation by generation, Generation MZ—Korean for Millennials and Generation Z, or people born roughly between 1981 and 2012—have negative opinions about the Have lunch with their colleagues.
That’s the conclusion of a study conducted between May and June last year among 1,021 civil servants of various ages working in central government agencies.
The data also showed that the younger generation, particularly Gen Z, responded more negatively to luncheons than the older generation. Senior officials have chosen to eat lunch alone, as many believe it could be a burden for their colleagues to eat with them.
In addition, younger and older generations prefer ‘hoesik’ (company meals) or formal staff meetings held at lunchtime rather than in the evening. On a five-point ordinal scale that allows participants to rank their opinions, 4.17 members of the MZ generation answered “yes” to the question of whether they would rather have lunch together, compared to 3 for the older generation , 8 lay.
A hoesik usually consists of dinner, alcohol, and sometimes a night out at a karaoke bar, which Koreans generally consider an extra work obligation.
The study also showed that participants of all ages want to switch to working from home as societal norms have changed during the pandemic, with the MZ generation responding that a flexible work environment is their top priority.
While a growing number of young Koreans prefer to eat alone in the workplace, the report describes the MZ generation as those who put individual interests above those of the company and says they champion change in the workplace. She also suggests that workplaces adopt policies that actually respect personal values in the workplace.
