Jobseekers hit hard by coronavirus

A jobseeker consults with an official at a regional job center in Seoul, April 17. /Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Four in 10 jobseekers who had found a job recently have either seen companies cancel their employment or postpone their start dates amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey, Monday.

The online survey conducted by Saramin, a recruiting platform, revealed that 40.7 percent of 2,052 jobseekers said they had experienced being notified of a cancellation or postponement of employment due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Of those, 58.7 percent said they were notified of a delay in their starting dates, while 18.9 percent said their position had been canceled, while 22.4 percent said they had experienced both.

Companies usually notify jobseekers about whether they passed an interview or not through text messages. When multiple answers were allowed, 51.7 percent of respondents said they were informed of the delayed start date by text message, 28.3 percent received a phone call from the companies they applied to, 6.9 percent received notifications in person and 6.3 percent said they got a message via Kakao Talk or other messenger app. Ten percent said they had to find out for themselves whether they had been hired or not because there was no contact from companies.

More than 78 percent of jobseekers said they were informed of the reason for the cancellation or postponement from the companies. Among them, 59.1 percent said the reason was deteriorating business conditions triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Some 46.3 percent said they were informed that the start date was delayed for an indefinite period, while 11.4 percent said they were notified that the company would lay off employees due to the economic slowdown.

In regard to the reasons the companies gave, 48.7 percent said “it is inevitable from the company's point of view,” leading 47.9 percent of respondents to say, “Some reasons are convincing, but still unfair.”

In addition, 88.7 percent of the respondents said they did not respond to the unilateral notice of the cancellation. However, 1.4 percent of respondents said they "reported it to the Ministry of Employment and Labor," and 9.9 percent said they had "consultations with labor attorneys.”