By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Before Samsung, Hanwha, Woongjin and Lotte head to Sejong City, they had first better convince their employees because a new survey shows that more than six out of 10 workers would consider quitting if they get relocated to the provincial city.
Online job site Career asked 580 male and female workers and more than 43 percent of them said they would have to reconsider their current jobs should they get sent to the new city located 150 kilometers south of Seoul.
The second biggest group of respondents ― nearly 37 percent ― said they would continue to work at their jobs regardless of being relocated.
But more than 19 percent said they would ``definitely'' quit immediately, regardless of the conditions offered by their employer.
``People generally don't want to get moved to the little known region,'' said an official at Career, who added that today's workers value the location of their office highly, which makes far-away Sejong a lot less competitive.
Samsung, Hanwha, Woongjin and Lotte have signed agreements with the government to start new business operations in the new city that the government aims to develop into a science and education hub. However, the underdeveloped area is largely unfamiliar to ordinary people.
According to the poll, the No. 1 reason why workers don't want to head south is because they consider where they work important. Overall inconvenience due to its remote location and skepticism about the Sejong project were some of the other unfavorable factors that turned people off.
A majority of respondents who don't mind relocating said they would keep their jobs because office location was not important. Others said they were happy to move because they expect better salaries and benefits, and a cleaner working environment.
A separate survey asked 495 job seekers whether they would apply to a company that plans to move into Sejong City and the response was almost equally split.
Nearly 47 percent said they would have to think seriously about applying for the job, while more than 42 percent said they didn't mind.