Korea’s leading internet companies have drawn attention and investments from around the world with their leading technology and rapid growth. Firms such as internet giant Kakao and fintech platform Toss are also noted for their progressive working cultures, but the companies have recently been showing signs of internal conflict and difficulty in retaining staff.
Industry observers say this illustrates that these firms, which are seen to have modeled themselves after their Western peers such as Google and Amazon, are undergoing “growing pains,” with Korean employees failing to fully embrace an innovative, horizontal corporate culture.
Kakao, driven by the success of mobile messenger Kakao Talk, has grown into a big tech firm with numerous acquisitions. The company has consistently been picked by college students as the most desirable employer, with one of the major factors being its organizational culture. Kakao has been defined by its horizontal and flexible work system, as well as its emphasis on innovation.
But internally, conflicts among employees appear to be brewing in certain areas.
A working mom at Kakao who wished to remain anonymous said she was being ostracized after signing up for shortened work hours for childcare. She said members of her team began giving her the cold shoulder for signing up for the program, despite this not affecting their workload.
“Due to the program, I was working four hours a day, which meant I would not be in the office in the afternoon. The team would host all meetings in the afternoon and not share the items discussed,” she told The Korea Times.
“More than half of my team members also gave me the poorest review in peer assessments that year.”
The employee sought to report the treatment to the company as workplace bullying but Kakao responded that it could not be recognized as such. The case ended with the employee being transferred to another Kakao affiliate upon her request.
The employee said this hostility toward employees with children utilizing existing systems for childcare was widespread at the company. Posts complaining about other employees taking days off for childcare have appeared on Blind, a popular online community for office workers to share complaints anonymously.
This is seen to be due to the fact that Kakao has a young, mostly unmarried workforce ― employees were on average 34 years old as of 2019.
This can also be attributed to their diverse backgrounds. Kakao, as a tech firm, continues to see an influx of experienced workers from other companies, possibly with different organizational cultures.
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| Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su speaks in an online meeting with employees held at the company’s office in Pangyo, south of Seoul, Feb. 25. Courtesy of Kakao |
Kakao was also hit recently for its assessment system, after an employee posted what was titled as a suicide note on Blind. The employee claimed to be a victim of workplace bullying, which was aggravated by the company’s evaluation system for peers and superiors.
Following the post, another post came up on the community in which the writer claimed the company’s “inhumane” system caused them to develop depression and seek professional help.
The issue with the peer assessment system involved a question about the compatibility and skills of a colleague. It was worded as “I do not wish to work with this employee,” without requiring any further explanation. Another problem with the system was that the results of the review were open for all employees to see.
“The results are provided with the average of all employees, basically telling you that you are at rock bottom,” the post said.
The posts said workers posting complaints of bullying in assessments of superiors were identified and suffered retaliation.
“Kakao has good intentions, but the HR system is not very professional and the method of assessment that has sparked controversy can only be described as brutal and cruel,” an industry source familiar with Kakao’s human resources system said.
Another industry source noted, “Kakao is showing signs of a divide, as the company is the end-result of multiple acquisitions, including the portal site Daum. Some employees who were with Daum still have some sense of hostility.”
Regarding the controversy, Kakao said the question about coworkers was added to the assessment system in 2016 after employees pitched the idea, and that the company began disclosing results of the assessments at their request.
Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su held a talk with employees last week, where the issue was brought up.
“The issue shows a warning light has switched on for our corporate culture,” Kim said at the meeting.
But Kakao’s assessment system was not discussed further as the company decided to hold a separate meeting this month for that purpose.
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| Toss’ headquarters in southern Seoul / Korea Times file |
Toss, a mobile app operated by Korea’s leading fintech startup Viva Republica, also employs a qualitative evaluation system of colleagues. This has been cited as one of the major factors for employees leaving the company.
According to recruitment information platform Kreditjob, Viva Republica recruited 354 employees in the past year and saw 248 leave.
This was despite “killer incentives” for new employees, such as offering 1.5 times the annual pay of the person’s previous workplace as well as 100 million won in stock options.
The first review of Viva Republica on Blind refers to the colleague feedback system and absence of a work-life balance as reasons for leaving the firm.
According to Viva Republica, the assessment is made after a new employee has spent three months with the company. Workers who do not pass are unable to continue working for the firm.
“It is like a test of whether you are compatible with the working culture here, because the way work is done here is different from most companies,” an official with the company said.
The official said the turnover rate is also attributed to the workload employees take on, as most of Viva Republica’s affiliates are in their early stages and their systems are being set up.
