Why Young South Koreans Are Taking Second and Third Jobs

A Second Shift After the Office Closes

South Korea recorded 404,409 workers with secondary employment in October 2025, according to microdata from the Ministry of Data and Statistics covering regular and temporary employees. Surveys suggest that earning money outside a main job has become common among young workers, with participation reaching 55.2 percent among people in their 20s and 57 percent among those in their 30s.

For Kim, a marketing worker aged 30, the numbers describe a familiar routine. Her main job ends at 6 p.m., but three evenings a week, often including weekends, she travels across Seoul to tutor middle and high school students in English. She explained why a monthly salary of 3 million won ($2,074) leaves her worried about the future.

I've been tutoring for seven years," she said. "With the 3 million won ($2,074) I earn from my main job, I feel like I'll never be able to buy a house or start a family. Working one job just doesn't seem enough for the future anymore.

Lee, a salesperson aged 32 at a major conglomerate, spends his nights uploading and registering Korean beauty products on Amazon. The work is tedious, and the platform's demanding standards leave him stressed. He described the pressure behind his decision.

After rent, groceries and the occasional meal out, there's barely anything left to save," he said. "This isn't about ambition. It's a necessity.

Kim and Lee belong to a growing group known as N-jobbers, people who hold more than one job. Their reasons range from paying everyday bills to saving for housing, changing careers and pursuing interests that their office work does not satisfy.

How Common Is Working More Than One Job?

Job portal Incruit found that nearly half of Korean workers surveyed had a side hustle. Participation was highest among respondents in their 20s and 30s, at 55.2 percent and 57 percent respectively. Work once associated mainly with freelancers or people between jobs is becoming part of ordinary working life for young adults.

NewWorker, a platform for finding temporary jobs, surveyed 728 adults in December. It found that 49.5 percent were doing some form of side work, almost matching the 50.5 percent who were not. Among office workers employed full time, 48.4 percent reported additional work beyond their main job.

KB Financial Group research involving 2,000 salaried workers put participation at 54.8 percent, an increase of 12.8 percentage points from its 2022 survey. The surveys cover different groups, while the ministry's figure counts workers recorded as having secondary employment.

Some workers are reluctant to disclose additional income to employers because they fear repercussions. That reluctance can make secondary work harder to count. Financial pressure, dissatisfaction with traditional office careers and the wish to build something personally meaningful all feature in the accounts of young workers taking on extra jobs.

From Tutoring to Smartphone Earnings

South Korea's market for side work now includes private academic coaching, paid appearances as wedding guests and small payments earned through smartphones. Some people earn money by watching advertisements, browsing or walking. Opportunities are available both online and offline, allowing workers to choose activities connected to their skills or interests.

Artificial intelligence is also being used as people explore YouTube production, blogging and online stores. Social media serves two purposes: it helps people find customers and gives them a place to learn how others earn money.

Lee Ji-won, aged 34, earns an extra 1 million won by posting blogs. Lee described how workers share practical knowledge about earning outside their main employment.

"This diversification has been accelerated by social media, which functions as both a marketplace and a learning platform. Workers share tips on app-based earnings, digital sales strategies or content-creation know-how, encouraging more people to try low-barrier forms of additional income," said Lee.

Instagram carries frequent posts promising ways to turn content into income. Successful creators sometimes publish books or build personal brands, becoming minor celebrities within their particular communities. A Flea Market survey found that social media content creation, including blogging and YouTube, was the most popular category at 20.2 percent, with average earnings of about 620,000 won a month.

Why Lower Inflation Still Leaves Workers Under Pressure

Consumer prices rose 2.1 percent in 2025, the lowest annual increase in five years. Workers nevertheless say that their daily expenses feel much higher. A slower rate of inflation means prices are rising more slowly; it still leaves households paying more as prices continue to increase.

Kim Sung-hee, director of the Institute for Industrial and Labor Policy, connected the spread of additional jobs to the relationship between wages and living costs.

The pace of wage growth is not keeping up with the rise in living costs," said Kim. "So more workers are adopting the 'main job plus side job' model as their default.

Kim predicted that this pattern could produce a lasting change in the labour market. The KB Financial Group research gives a closer view of what salaried workers want from their additional earnings: 38.7 percent cited saving for emergencies, 18.7 percent using spare time and 13.2 percent covering living expenses.

Emergency savings provide money for an unexpected expense or interruption in income. For workers who have little left after paying their regular bills, earning more outside the office can become a way to create that reserve.

The surveys also show how quickly the pattern has spread. KB's increase of 12.8 percentage points since 2022 places the issue within a sequence of changing work habits rather than a single snapshot.

• 2022: KB Financial Group conducted the earlier survey used to measure the subsequent increase in side work.
• February 2023: A global Kantar survey examined multiple jobholding among 10,000 workers.
• 2023: Job Korea surveyed young workers about whether they wanted to become executives.
• October 2025: Ministry of Data and Statistics microdata recorded 404,409 workers with secondary employment.
• December 2025: NewWorker surveyed 728 adults, with 49.5 percent reporting side work.

The Seoul Housing Calculation

Seoul's housing costs make the limits of a salary especially visible. The average apartment price in July was 1.46 billion won, according to Real Estate 114. The average worker in Seoul earns around 48 million won a year.

At those figures, saving an entire annual salary for 30 years would produce 1.44 billion won, still slightly below the apartment price. The simple calculation leaves no money for rent, food or other living costs during those decades. It explains why workers such as Kim can meet current expenses yet feel far from buying a home.

Kim Sol-nim, aged 33, writes blogs for hospitals and law firms after returning from her main job at around 6 p.m. She spends one to four hours a day on the work and earns an additional 600,000 to 800,000 won ($430 to $575) a month. She described housing as the central reason for taking it on.

The biggest reason for having side jobs is money," she said. "My salary from my main job is not insufficient for my living expenses, but it's nowhere near enough to buy a house in Seoul.

For these workers, having enough to get through the month and having enough to prepare for a family or a home are very different financial goals. High consumer prices and rising housing costs make additional work feel necessary even when the main salary covers basic needs.

Why Promotion Has Lost Some of Its Appeal

Young workers are also questioning whether climbing the office hierarchy offers the security they want. High housing prices, stagnant wages and job insecurity have weakened confidence that loyalty and long working hours will eventually bring stability.

A survey by the local think tank 20s Lab covered 850 office workers in their 20s and 30s. It found that 36.7 percent did not want promotion to a managerial position. Many pointed to the stress, workload and pressure to meet performance targets that would accompany it.

Job Korea's 2023 survey found that 54.8 percent of young respondents did not want to become executives. Management and executive posts carry different responsibilities, but both findings show reluctance to pursue more authority within a company.

Kim Sung-hee, the labour policy institute director, explained why income outside the office can change that calculation.

Unlike past generations, young workers now know they can earn income outside the office through social media or e-commerce," said Kim. "Taking on more responsibility at work is no longer seen as the best or only way to build a stable future.

Kantar's February 2023 global survey of 10,000 workers found that 40 percent of Gen Z workers combined at least two roles. The finding places South Korea's experience within a wider change in how younger people approach work and career development.

Building a Life Beyond the Main Job

A professional aged 27 in Seoul runs a YouTube channel with about 27,000 subscribers. For this worker, the project offers both financial preparation and experience beyond the office.

I realised the company isn't everything and I needed to invest in myself," the professional said. "My main job alone isn't enough to prepare for the future. Through my side work, I'm building financial stability and gaining new experiences.

Other workers use side jobs to test a possible move from an unsatisfying occupation into something they enjoy. An engineer aged 37 at one of Korea's leading conglomerates, who writes under the pseudonym Amtun on the blogging platform Brunch, has tried several such activities. She described feeling empty despite working hard in her corporate career.

I worked really hard, but one day I had a reality check," she said. "I was running fast in the corporate race, but I was hit by a sense of emptiness.

Amtun bought a property needing renovation in Gangwon Province for 80 million won and converted it into an Airbnb. It brings in about 7 to 8 million won a year. She said the personal satisfaction changed how the additional work felt.

"This was something I truly enjoyed and found meaningful, so I didn't feel as tired," she said.

These experiences show why additional work can serve several purposes at once. Earnings matter, but a blog, channel or accommodation business can also offer more control over how someone spends their time and develops a future career.

The Price Paid in Hours and Health

Young N-jobbers work an average of 58.7 hours a week, with some approaching 97 hours, according to a Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health report. Combining jobs can substantially extend the working week, even when each activity seems manageable on its own.

Long hours add to South Korea's existing burnout problem. Working close to 100 hours a week can bring physical exhaustion, greater risk of cardiovascular disease, mental health problems and strain on family and social relationships. Cardiovascular disease affects the heart and blood vessels.

Heo Chang-deok, a sociology professor at Yeungnam University, linked the pursuit of extra income to anxiety about economic standing and described the costs of excessive work.

Trying to maximize income through multiple jobs reflects anxiety about falling behind in a society where economic power is paramount," said Heo. "Yet long working hours are reducing productivity and straining relationships. We need to examine whether workers' wages adequately reflect the value of their labor.

Korea Labour Institute analysis also found a relationship between lower pay and side work. People with side jobs earned an average of 13,000 won (US$9.42) an hour, compared with 16,000 won (US$11.59) for people relying only on their primary employment.

The difference is 3,000 won an hour. Workers already receiving less for each hour of labour may therefore need to spend more hours earning money, adding further pressure to their schedules.

Extra Income and Passion Projects Abroad

Visa research found that 45 percent of Gen Z had a side hustle, and 37 percent of those had more than one. The leading activities were e-commerce at 34 percent, work as social media influencers at 25 percent and projects based on personal interests at 19 percent.

Among Gen Z participants with side businesses, 69 percent had started primarily to earn extra income. Average monthly earnings were £218.60. Visa also found that 27 percent began to explore a passion and 26 percent to develop their skills.

Employers are becoming more accepting of these activities. Meredith Meyer Grelli, assistant teaching professor of entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, described a change in how employees discuss their lives outside work.

Before the pandemic, workers were less open and willing to talk about anything that could potentially divert energy away from their full-time job, even childcare," Grelli explained. "But now, businesses are more empathetic and receptive to the deeper needs and wants of their workers – and that includes passion projects.

For employees, acceptance matters because additional work can involve both financial needs and personal ambitions. In South Korea, fear of an employer's reaction still discourages some workers from disclosing their extra income.

North Korean Youth Face a Different Choice

North Korea presents a contrasting situation. The Socialist Patriotic Youth League (SPYL) recently demanded that young people engaged in aekbeori work return to their assigned workplaces, threatening assignment to collective work brigades.

Aekbeori resembles the arrangement known as 8.3 work. People pay a fixed amount to their official workplace so they can carry out private economic activity, while attending the assigned workplace only on paper. Many use this arrangement because official workplaces often provide neither salaries nor rations.

Young people resisting the order described their assigned workplaces as existing chiefly in official records.

a reality only on paper.

Their complaints focused on the absence of wages and the need to earn through their own activities.

They don't pay us our wages, so showing up for work will make no difference," they say. "We have to carry goods for our own businesses to make money.

Some young women said marriage offered a way to escape the youth league's restrictions.

it would be better simply to get married and do business because the SPYL has become too restrictive nowadays.

After marriage, women who leave assigned workplaces can officially trade in the market without pressure to attend work. South Korean young adults can pursue multiple sources of income through the market, while North Korean youth face state restrictions on private activities that support their economic independence.

What Multiple Jobs Mean for Korean Careers

South Korea's ageing population and slowing growth add weight to the question of whether one job can provide lasting security. Lee Byung-hoon, honorary professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University, said both financial dissatisfaction and changing attitudes toward careers help explain the spread of N-jobbers.

First, people take on side jobs because they are dissatisfied with the income or meaning they get from their main job and want to prepare for something new," he said. "Second, people no longer see their main jobs as lifelong careers. They're mentally prepared to leave when the time feels right.

Lee also connected the search for satisfying work to education and the timing of personal career decisions.

"Korea's education system doesn't help people figure out what they enjoy. So many only start asking those questions after they've entered the workforce," he said.

Technological change, including artificial intelligence, is expected to encourage further movement between jobs. Lee described how that could affect the tradition of staying with one employer.

Unlike in the 20th century, jobs today are less secure and are disrupted by advances like AI," said Lee. "More people will likely move around based on job opportunities instead of staying with one company for life.

Companies and policymakers face pressure to reconsider how work is organised, paid and valued. For young workers, the immediate challenge is balancing the money and opportunities gained from additional jobs against the time, health and relationships those jobs can consume.

The Bottom Line

• October 2025 ministry microdata recorded 404,409 workers with secondary employment.
• Survey participation figures included 48.4 percent among office workers employed full time, 55.2 percent among workers in their 20s and 57 percent among those in their 30s.
• KB Financial Group found 54.8 percent of salaried respondents had side jobs, up 12.8 percentage points from 2022.
• Motivations cited included financial necessity at 82.5 percent, career change at 38.7 percent and using spare time at 18.7 percent; KB's research also recorded emergency saving at 38.7 percent and living expenses at 13.2 percent.
• Social media content creation accounted for 20.2 percent in a Flea Market survey, with average monthly earnings of about 620,000 won.
• Young N-jobbers averaged 58.7 working hours a week, with some approaching 97 hours.
• Seoul's average apartment price of 1.46 billion won compares with an average annual worker salary of around 48 million won.
• Among young office workers surveyed by 20s Lab, 36.7 percent did not want managerial promotion.
• Additional jobs reflect financial pressure, changing career ambitions and a search for greater personal control.