“Difficult to increase sales due to factors such as increased demand for overseas travel”
Mr. Kim, who runs a restaurant on Gwangbok-ro in Jung-gu, Busan, has decided to operate without taking a break during this Chuseok holiday.
The reason why Mr. Kim gave up on visiting his parents this time, following last year’s Lunar New Year, is ‘sales’. The occasional family customers during the holiday period are a great help in making up for the lack of income. However, due to labor costs, the part-time worker who works with him decided to take a break during the holiday.
Mr. Kim is not the only owner who runs his store alone to make a little profit during the Chuseok holidays.
According to a survey conducted by Alba Heaven last month of 96 self-employed members, 85.4%, or 3 out of 4, responded that they ‘open their stores during Chuseok as well.’ This is 5.7 percentage points (p) higher than last year’s Chuseok (79.7%).
However, only 47.6% of self-employed business owners expected their sales to increase compared to usual due to the holiday, which was less than half.
It seems to be related to the fact that sales are likely to decrease as customers head home, and that the demand for overseas travel has also increased as the Chuseok holiday, the longest holiday of the year, approaches.
This year’s Chuseok holiday lasts for five days from the 14th to the 18th. If you use your vacation days on the 19th and 20th, you can enjoy a whopping nine-day holiday until Sunday the 22nd, which is making self-employed people sigh even deeper.
According to Gimhae International Airport, the number of airport users during this Chuseok holiday is expected to be around 295,000, a 20% increase from last year’s Chuseok holiday. During this period, the number of international passengers to Beijing, China, Da Nang, Vietnam, and Bohol and Clark Field in the Philippines is expected to reach 169,793, an average of 28,299 per day.
Given this situation, it seems unlikely that major tourist destinations in Busan will see an increase in sales during the holiday period. In a community of self-employed people, there have been a series of posts since early August, about a month before Chuseok, expressing concerns about a decline in sales in most industries except unmanned stores.
Meanwhile, Mr. Han, who runs a cafe on Gunam-ro in Haeundae-gu, Busan, decided to close only on Chuseok.
Ms. Han, who plans to leave her 4-year-old child with her in-laws who live nearby while the store is open, said, “If I close the store for about a week like everyone else, my profits will decrease that much, so I’ve never been able to relax during the holidays.” She added, “Even though it’s a tourist destination, I’m barely able to keep the store open except during the holiday season when there are a lot of people, so I’m planning to give it up for this holiday as well.”
He also mentioned, “The reality of being self-employed is that you have to work two or three times as much as others to barely make as much as others, so I have absolutely little time to spend with my child,” and “I’m seriously considering closing the store.”
According to the results of a survey on the work-life balance of small business owners conducted by the Korea Federation of SMEs last month, 3 out of 10 respondents (28.8%) answered that they either had no monthly business days off or did not have enough business days off. The percentage was higher for small business owners with fewer employees or less sales, and the reasons for not having enough business days off included “profit pressure” (39.9%) and “industry characteristics” (39.3%).
For this reason, experts point out that there is a need for minimal support and guarantees for self-employed workers who are excluded from social security systems such as employment insurance.
Lee Jeong-sik, chairman of the Small Business Survival Association, said, “In the case of Busan, where the percentage of self-employed workers is high, there are many people who are particularly excluded from government policies for workers,” and added, “A guarantee system based on income, not employment insurance subscription, should be made a reality.”
In relation to this, Busan City will implement the ‘Small Business Owner Childcare Support Package’ support project from November, together with KB Financial Group and the Korea Economic Association, to create a stable childbirth and childcare environment for small business owners who are in the blind spot of the support system. Through this, the city plans to support small business owners and their employees’ childbirth and childcare replacement labor costs, small business owner childcare services, and childcare support funds for small business owners without homes.
(Busan=News 1)
2024-09-17 06:23:48