More than four out of ten office workers plan to prepare for job changes during this Chuseok holiday. This is because they can secure time to focus on writing self-introduction letters and resumes, which were difficult to complete alongside weekday work. In particular, with SK Hynix, a company highly sought after by job seekers due to astronomical bonuses, closing its hiring for experienced hires immediately after the holiday, this break is expected to be used as a period for document preparation by office workers preparing their applications.
According to a survey conducted by JobKorea on the 24th titled "Plans for Job Change Preparation During the Chuseok Holiday" among 1,158 office workers, 44.3% of respondents said they would prepare for job changes during the holiday. In particular, this figure reached 63.9% among those in their 30s, significantly exceeding the overall average.
The company receiving the most attention in the job change market is undoubtedly SK Hynix. Ranked first on JobKorea's survey this year for "the company I want to start working at right now," SK Hynix also saw "salary and bonuses" account for the highest share at 32% as a reason for choosing the company. SK Hynix, which first launched the so-called "N% bonus" era by allocating a portion of its annual operating profit as a bonus source, is expected to pay each employee approximately 700 million won (pre-tax) in bonuses based solely on this year's operating profit calculated simply. Among office workers, there is spreading envy described as "on the level of changing one's fate," alongside feelings of relative deprivation.
SK Hynix is currently conducting September hiring through its monthly hiring program for experienced hires called "Monthly Hy-way," which will close on the 29th immediately after the holiday. The target includes talent in key semiconductor fields such as HBM (high-bandwidth memory), AI, and system-on-chip (SoC).
This recruitment drive is characterized by significantly subdivided job positions. It details distinctions ranging from HBM foundry PI (process integration) and product engineering (PE), to circuit design and digital design, all the way to AI workload areas such as LLM (large language model) training and inference. In other words, applicants need to meticulously reorganize their past work experience and projects to align with the specific job they are applying for, rather than simply listing semiconductor-related experience.
However, it has been difficult for office workers to secure time to prepare for this under normal circumstances. SK Hynix applicants must write about their motivation for applying and future plans, reasons for leaving their previous company, and also submit resumes and portfolios. They need to reorganize their existing work experience to fit the target job, which is difficult to do alongside weekday duties. Office worker A, in his 30s who is preparing to change jobs, said, "On weekdays, I get off work late and have to go to work the next day, so I couldn't prepare my application properly," adding, "During this holiday, I plan to re-analyze job postings from companies of interest and organize the work I've done so far to write my resume and self-introduction letter."
As such, holidays are an important opportunity for office workers preparing to change jobs. In a survey by JobKorea last year regarding Chuseok holiday job change preparation plans, 30.9% of respondents answered that they would prepare because "the long holiday provided time to focus." For experienced hires who must reorganize their existing experience to match the target job, this preparation time is even more crucial.
A human resources official at a domestic company stated, "Experienced hires must balance current work duties, making it difficult to devote sufficient effort to writing application documents on weekdays," and added, "The long holiday is the optimal period to objectively summarize one's achievements and projects and prepare specifically for job postings from desired companies."
in INDUSTRY
