"What's worse is that unemployed women are dismissed and cheated, as well...."

- Complaints of female job-seekers registered with the Action Center for Women's Unemployment

This section will look at trends in women's unemployment and provide information on employment cases of cheating and victimizing female job-seekers, through a variety of activities and statistics regarding job counseling undertaken by the Action Center for Women's Unemployment (ACWU).

Last February 18, when most newspapers said "the number of unemployed people had reached nearly two million," I felt that the Korean unemployment rate would skyrocket to over 9% in the very near future. The Ministry of Labor expects an additional 0.3 million workers to become unemployed this year due to the rapid increase in the number of those who want to enter the labor market for the first time.

However, a higher percentage of unemployed women would be reflected in official statistics (5.6% in November, 1998) if the number of disappointed unemployed people was added.

Counselees, mostly married women with less than a high school degree education

Last year, a total number of 4,192 women excluding cases by telephone and re-counselling cases received counseling by ACWU. Among them, married women made up 74.26% (with 3,113 cases) of the cases. Also, women over the age of 35 constituted 61.4% (with 2,576 cases). Those with less than a high school diploma accounted for 62.28% (with 2,611 cases).

So, married women over the age of 35 with less than a high school diploma constituted the great majority of job seekers. This shows that women are the first targets of lay-offs due to bankruptcies and restructuring, and reflects the difficulty that women face finding jobs without adequate skills and training, although they try to enter the labor market because their husbands are unemployed.

Various reasons are given when women are laid off from their jobs. Women workers are usually dismissed under the excuses that "you aren't householders," "this department can be operated on an hourly basis," and "cheap labor can easily be found because of a large pool of unemployed people." Moreover, mass media exaggerates the severity of the number of male unemployed homeless persons staying at Seoul Station.

I cannot find any article about women who try to keep their families together even under the current severe economic crisis. In addition, women have to endure the anguish and pain in their families by themselves since their husbands are unemployed.

What is worse, it is useless for women to look for jobs when they face such discriminatory attitudes such as "Why you are looking for a job? Even men have difficulties finding jobs in this situation." The jobs that women manage to find largely have terrible working conditions with long working hours and back wages.

K(42 years old) living in Kuro appealed to us saying, "I worked in an electronic firm for 5 years. I was unemployed as a result of the companies bankruptcy. I couldn't find a job because I am old and don't have any special skill. I found a job in a farm cultivating spinach.

They tried to make me work very hard. They didn't even give me time to go to the toilet. My back ached so badly that I could not continue working there. I stopped working after two days. I went back there several times because they didn't pay me my wages.

They threatened me with the knife usually used for trimming spinach. I gave up in my efforts to be paid." After that, she worked in several canteens and restaurants, but most of them did not pay her. This shows that women workers confront incredibly harsh hardships.

Extremely heavy workloads:
Earn your day payment yourself

Many think that unmarried women are in better situations compared to married women. However, those older than 27 years old also have great difficulties. Employers arbitrarily define those women as getting married soon. They are discriminated against in terms of their age, as employers assume that women will resign after they marry.

A(28 years old) living in Songbuk-ku worked as a bookkeeper, but the company was closed because of its bankruptcy. She often received rejections at initial stages of job interviews because she is considered "old." Whenever she was interviewed with firms which do not have set age limits, the first question is usually, "When will you get married?" She is upset because she wants to continue working regardless of whether she marries or not.

you aren't welcome!

In addition, only ordinary clerical occupations are available to unmarried women who are new graduates from universities or colleges regardless of their majors. However, it is very difficult for them to find jobs if they cannot use a computer. The competition is extremely high.

Whether they are married or not, female job-seekers want to continue working in a secure job environment. However, employers want to employ young unmarried female cheap labor who can work on a dispatched and temporary basis and possess a variety of abilities.

Sales jobs where salaries depend on the amount sold, and simple and routine jobs such as cleaners and assis- tants in canteens and restaurants are largely available to married women. In the current situation where the number of job seekers far outnumbers job demand, there is an increasing number of cases of female job seekers who desperately look for jobs but who are usually deceived.

Therefore, on February 18, 1999 the Ministry of Labor announced that employers who recruit workers falsely shall be imprisoned for 5 years or be fined 20 million Won according to the Korean Occupation Security Law.

B (32 years old), a housewife living in Keumchon-ku dislikes sales jobs very much. When she inquired about a job advertised in a community newspaper and was reassured that it was definitely not related to sales, she went to the firm for a job interview.

On the first day, she received an orientation on education for babies and children, but on the second day, the orientation consisted of how to sell textbooks, so she left.

O (30 years old) majored in art education. She began working at a firm producing textbooks for babies and children. Her job is related to textbook publication, but she was not paid because although she colored textbooks, she did not sell any. S (25 years old), an unmarried woman living in Kuro, was employed in a publishing firm under the condition that she would be promoted to a managerial level in the office after her sales work.

However, after three months under the excuse that "you are very good at sales" the company demanded that she continue working sales, so she resigned from the job. After that, the company threatened to charge her compensation if some goods that she sold were returned.

Most job advertisements are false and many
private temporary agencies just take money
from job seekers.

P (42 years old), a female householder living in Wolkyeh-dong saw a job advertisement about a private temporary agency employing primarily female householders, so she sent her resume. Because she was not contacted for two months after the job opening, she called the agency.

They said that she had to buy containers for reserving and selling vegetables at prices between 8 and 10 million Won. Eventually, she gave up her application for the job.

Q (30 years old) living in the Samyang-dong visited a private temporary agency which places tele-marketing jobs. She worked for a month because they said that they would pay some fringe benefits in addition to the 0.5 million Won basic monthly wage.

But her actual basic monthly wage was 0.3 million Won. So, she found another job providing weekly wages. However, this company often withholds her wages. When she heard from a supervisor that the company was moving out, she resigned from the company.

But, later she found that the company filed that she resigned from the job because she made a false statement. So far, she has not been paid back wages amounting to 0.19 million Won.

She was told that T Trading in Kangnam was looking for a nurse who can give health consultations to patients with diabetes. They told her that sales are handled by others, but the company demanded her to perform sales shouting "how can in the world you think to be paid without doing any sales?"

E (49 years old) living in Kumchon-ku had to stop working as an assistant in a restaurant due to its closure. She paid out 50,000 Won as commission to a paid temporary agency in Karibong-dong and she worked at construction sites.

Jobs were supposed to be placed twice a week by the agency. But, one day, she had to return because it despatched 4 workers rather than the 2 workers actually required by the construction company. The agency just made up the numbers.

In particular, middle-aged women usually worked for domestic help work through paid temporary agencies which require an extra 25,000 Won to be paid in addition to the 50,000 Won basic fee to receive job placement twice a week. However, they have to pay grudgingly because of the shortage of labor demand in the market.

Careful consideration is needed.

There has been an increase in the number of job seekers who are victimized and cheated. Among the many various job advertisements publicized, many falsely advertise very different working conditions. So careful consideration is required.

Compared to other jobs, women must think first if the company is registered. They also have to consider many aspects such as if offered wages are reasonable compared to other jobs, if regular payments are made, if continuous employment is guaranteed and additional commission is needed for job registration,

when you try to apply for jobs through advertisements. The authorities should strengthen their executive powers and take pro-active steps on behalf of job seekers, in order to prevent them from being victimized any more.