This year, most companies will observe a four-day holiday for Chuseok, but their sentiment regarding the holiday economy remains negative. The number of companies reporting a worsening economic situation compared to last year was five times greater than those reporting an improvement. Additionally, the proportion of companies planning to provide Chuseok bonuses has slightly decreased from last year.
The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) conducted a survey of 601 companies with five or more employees across the country regarding the '2026 Chuseok Holiday Survey.' The results showed that 76.5% of companies will take a four-day holiday, while 14.2% will take five days or more, and 9.3% will take three days or fewer.
This year, 61.0% of companies plan to provide Chuseok bonuses, down from 63.0% last year. Among larger companies with over 300 employees, 66.7% plan to give bonuses, compared to 60.3% of smaller companies with fewer than 300 employees. Both categories saw a decrease from the previous year, with larger companies dropping from 68.1% and smaller companies from 62.3%.
The method of bonus distribution shows that 65.3% of companies will provide bonuses as regular bonuses only, while 30.8% will offer separate bonuses, and 3.9% will provide both types simultaneously. Among companies providing bonuses, 95.7% of those with over 300 employees will do so as regular bonuses, compared to 65.3% of those with fewer than 300 employees. Conversely, 37.9% of smaller companies will provide separate bonuses, compared to 13.0% of larger companies.
Regarding the Chuseok economy, 45.2% of respondents indicated that it has worsened compared to last year, which is similar to the 45.7% who said it remains the same. Only 9.1% reported an improvement. When broken down by company size, 47.2% of companies with fewer than 300 employees reported a worsening situation, compared to 29.4% of those with 300 or more employees.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.