Born in 1990, I was fortunate enough to get a job as a journalist for 8 years after graduating from a general humanities boys' high school and college in the metropolitan area, and I have demographic characteristics that make me known as "MZ generation" from above, "young braids" from below, and "three generations" from everyone. Not long ago, I had a drinking party with several of my classmates from the same high school, and I remember a friend of similar demographics saying with a grave expression as his memory was blurring from alcohol.
"Everybody still worked hard, but there's only one guy who goes to the market and works one job?"
"Oh, yes," he continued the next conversation without much thought, and the scene after that fades into the back of his memory. A few weeks later, however, a news report on the press room monitor as I went to work with a Monday sickness brought back memories of that moment.
Lee Jeong-sik/Minister of Employment and Labor (last 6 days)
The MZ generation said, "Vice Chairman Nawara, Chairman Nawara. On what basis did the performance pay come to be like this?' That positive sense of entitlement will go a long way toward making the law effective.
The minister's words that succinctly defined the mental world of the MZ generation and offered a bright outlook on the effects of the policy. Suddenly, the grave expression of the friend, who seemed to have no resentment, regret, and even a sense of entitlement, let alone a desire to "come out as chairman," came to mind from the other side of my memory. And again, this thought suddenly occurred to me. 'But my friends are 52 or 69 hours?'
7,878,928 and 3,356,727... No More 'Blind Spots'
There is an unflattering reality between the grave numbers of certain statistics. Such is the case with the detailed statistics on non-wage workers from the National Statistics Office, which SBS received through the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-jin. According to the data, the number of so-called "non-wage workers" who do not belong to any company but are actually paid in exchange for providing labor reached 2021,787,8 as of 928. Most of them are freelance or special-hire workers, but in five years, it has exploded by 5 percent, accounting for one-third of the total economic population. In the coverage last weekend, I used the term "blind spot," but on second thought, I think it's too big a group to be called a "blind spot."
▶ The era of 50 million 'non-wage workers'... Blind spots have increased (3.1.800 2023News)
What's worse is that most of the jobs they operate earn less than the minimum income. Therefore, unless you are a wealthy person who does not have to worry about making a living, or you have a large inheritance, it is estimated that most of them have to live a so-called "N-job" life where they have to run several jobs.
The problem is that even in the so-called MZ generation, the under-03s, the number of non-wage workers has exceeded 12 million. The rising percentage of non-wage earners earning less than the lowest level per occupation is a problem for every generation, but it feels a little different for future generations who have just taken their first steps into economic life. This is because they did not have the time and opportunity to form assets of the size of "seed money," and they were included in social security systems such as the national pension and did not have the opportunity to raise even a speck of retirement funds.
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Park Yong-jin/Democratic Congressman I thought it would be
a minority, but with this statistic, we can confirm two things. First, they make up a very large proportion of the population. Secondly, among these, those who are called self-employed who do not fall into any category. There are an awful lot of people in the existing labor system, in the existing occupations, who are not classified in this way, and they are close to half of the freelance self-employed, collectively referred to as "non-wage workers." So we're living in a country we never imagined before. These statistics show the stark reality that previous laws, especially the 70-year-old labor law and the decades-old social security system, will no longer be able to create a Korea for the people of the Republic of Korea.
No rights before a sense of entitlement
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Na Hyun-woo/General Secretary of the Youth Union I'm a member of our union, but I'm a freelancer, but I was in arrears of
wages. It was a little less than 100 million won, but that's a small amount of money. But from the point of view of this person who lives right now, it is a big deal to think that the monthly salary is less than 100 million won.
But a worker can file a complaint with the Labor Bureau and get action, but this person is not protected because he is a freelancer. All I can do is sue, but I am in a situation where I have to sue for less than 100 million won.
A total of 787,8,928 people, or 30,335,6 young people under their 727s, have no rights before their sense of rights as workers. In addition to restrictions on working hours, even if you suffer non-payment of wages, you must self-remedy through litigation. These are also poorly visible. Not in the union-free factories where the chairman of the Economic and Social Labor Committee was impressed by the average age of 28, nor in the industrial sites where the president encouraged them not to be used for political movements, nor in the offices visited by opposition politicians who criticized them to stop them from working long hours. This is because there is no "field" for political people to leave on the screen, and they are scattered, unorganized, and not very vocal.
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It's not that politics hasn't been discussed at all. In the National Assembly, a bill on the protection of working people, etc., introduced by Representative Jang Cheol-min of the Democratic Party, has been submitted. The bill defines not only workers under the Labor Standards Act as "working persons" but also "non-wage workers" who provide labor to employers and receive compensation regardless of employment. The bill also stipulates the conclusion and issuance of written contracts, restrictions on wrongful termination, parental leave and protection of pregnant women, prohibition of sexual harassment and workplace harassment, implementation of education and training such as vocational skills development, establishment of guidelines for the protection of working people, dissemination of standard contracts, and administrative guidance and corrective orders from supervisory agencies. They are trying to bring these working classes into the law. However, amid repeated political controversies, the bill still has not crossed the threshold of the Standing Committee. The first opposition party, the Democratic Party, has always cited the reason that "the ruling party of the government is not interested in labor issues," but the bill has rarely been given much weight in the leadership's public meeting remarks, which include "condemning the dictatorship of the prosecutor."
The gloomy future of any clear eye with AirPods
Mr. A/Non-wage worker in her 20s I go to weddings on weekends to sing anthems, and on weekdays
I work on designs and go out to take pictures. There are a lot of platforms where you can do N jobs these days. At one point, I modeled and then hosted a show, but because of this situation, I can't really say that it's a form of employment, and my daily life is a bit uneasy.
I have a senior like me who has been freelancing for almost 10 years. But he's been suffering a lot recently because he discovered a very serious illness, and when I asked him 'when did you do a medical checkup?' I was a little surprised to see him say, 'The last time I was at work was before I started freelancing,' and I wonder if my future will be similar. Even if you are a freelancer, it is difficult to make 100 million won health checkups every year.
The media represents reality. Sometimes it captures the essence well and evokes empathy, but sometimes it overrepresents certain aspects. MZ, who runs N jobs with a happy expression on weekdays, becomes an instant squeeze chef on Sundays and eats instant squeeze. When I interview Alba, I interview the boss, and when I work in a small business, I say "my work efficiency improves," and MZ has clear eyes wearing AirPods. The popularity of parody content about them is evidently due to the fact that it captures one aspect of the essence well. However, it is difficult to define those who have encountered them on YouTube as MZ for decades and then process them into "come out the chairman, come out the boss" and use them as a basis for policy decisions.
I'm not writing this to talk about labor reform and future generations, and to mock those who are working hard in their own way. President Yoon Seok-yeol yesterday said that he listened to the public opinion of the MZ generation and ordered a review of the so-called "69-hour labor policy." In any case, I think it's a good thing to listen to public opinion and try to reflect it in policy promotion. However, with so few young people able to join unions, and the number of non-wage workers exploding, and out-of-system work no longer an "exception," I fear that a labor policy centered on regular wage earners and union reform may be a good thing at the well.
Just like Gen X, who took over the place of "things you may not know" with the clear eyes of Generation MZ, the "clear-eyed (or murky-eyed) madmen" around me, including me, will be treated as sediment, dragging their tongues, and blaming today's things 20 years or so. Ancient clay tablets are also inscribed with words to the effect that "things these days have no hair."
But, unlike in the past, what would it look like if millions of people who spent their youth without proper protection in the national pension system or the health insurance system become middle-aged and become parties to generational conflict? May we never miss this day when generational conflicts stopped at the back of corporate smoking halls and entertainment parodies. I look at it as one of the men in their 30s who are called Generation MZ.
(Photo = Yonhap News)