The Dignity of the Chaebol

It’s all just wordplay.

Given the size of the company, I can understand the necessity of having positions like “junior” for departmental expertise, but to create another position like “manager” between “junior” and “assistant manager”?

I don’t get it.

But then again, 30 years have passed.

During that time, the world has changed so drastically, so I can imagine how the company must have evolved too.

There must be reasons and circumstances I don’t know about.

I didn’t ask further about that but instead focused on asking a few more questions about Cha Jun-young.

“Was he a good employee?”

“He has great personal performance. And most importantly, the Sales Team 2 took the highest team bonus in the department last year. Even within the team, Cha Jun-young is highly regarded. He gets along well with people from other departments too. He even received this month’s Employee of the Month award.”

“Employee of the Month?”

That’s something we did even 30 years ago.

“Yes, every month, each department nominates an employee, and one is selected. The Employee of the Month receives a gift, which is not huge but still notable—a one-night stay at a luxury hotel and a 200,000 KRW department store gift certificate. This isn’t an award given just for good work performance. It’s actually more about how well others in the company recognize you.”

“That makes sense. Ultimately, it’s meant to improve cooperation across related departments.”

“Related departments? Is that what you mean? The departments that work together often?”

I nodded and allowed him to correct my phrasing, changing “related departments” to “cooperating departments.”

There’s no right or wrong in that.

If people today refer to it as “cooperating departments,” that’s just how it is now.

“Yes, that’s right, cooperating departments. I guess I was wrong.”

“Yes, that’s correct. As you said, working well with cooperating departments is an important part of the role.”

“So you’re saying Cha Jun-young was good at that?”

“Yes, he’s received Employee of the Month twice.”

“Twice?”

“Yes. The first time he deserved it, but the second time, after his promotion to manager, I believe the department head helped support his nomination.”

“What does that mean?”

“Usually, it’s rare for a department head to recommend an employee for Employee of the Month twice.”

That makes sense.

There are many employees who haven’t even received the award once, and a department head should ideally spread those opportunities evenly.

Since the Employee of the Month award doesn’t come with a huge reward, it’s more about boosting morale.

To give such a motivational recognition twice to one employee suggests that there’s something special about that person.

“It seems like the department head was trying to get him promoted quickly from manager to assistant manager.”

“Ah…”

“Such awards don’t directly affect performance reviews, but they do have some influence.”

“That makes sense.”

“Plus, Cha Jun-young has great personal performance. He’s the top performer in Sales Team 2, and his contribution to the team’s success is also significant.”

There were many things I wanted to verify.

The company culture and state had changed so much.

“How many employees does the company have now?”

“Are you asking about just the headquarters?”

“I mean just Jaekyung Mojik’s employees, not the whole group.”

“Ah, you’re asking only about Jaekyung Mojik’s headquarters?”

The group headquarters is clearly separate, but here there’s a separate corporate headquarters for this division?

“No, I’m asking about how many employees there are, including those in production.”

“Are you including temporary employees too?”

“How many temporary employees are there? Just give me a rough estimate of the total number of employees.”

“I need to know the exact scope to answer.”

What kind of nonsensical request is that?

“Just the regular employees? There are just over 2,000.”

Did I hear that right?

2,000?

I had thought the company had downsized its subsidiaries, so I was only thinking negatively, but the actual company has grown this large.

Does this mean they’ve consolidated subsidiaries and are focusing on specific businesses?

2,000 employees means the number has almost doubled compared to 30 years ago.

“But if we include temporary employees, the total number is just under 3,000.”

“How many?”

“Just under 3,000.”

What is this?

2,000 employees already sounds like the company has grown significantly, but under 3,000?

It means the number of temporary employees is almost as high as the number of regular employees.

How can the number of temporary workers be nearly half of the regular staff?

Temporary workers, or contract employees, should only be hired for executives and special or niche departments.

How can there be such a high number of temporary employees in the overall workforce?

And with such a large workforce, the company is only ranked third in the industry?

“Why… is this the case?”

“Is this normal?”

“What do you mean?”

“According to what you just said, you’re telling me there are about 2,000 regular employees and nearly 1,000 temporary employees?”

“The legal limit for temporary workers is 40% of the total workforce. So while it’s a lot, it’s not unusual for a company with a production line to have this ratio.”

“I see, but wait. Are you telling me this is the case for most companies with production lines?”

“There are companies with even worse ratios. Some companies even specify the type of production line they have because of their high temporary worker ratios.”

“Why are you hiring so many temporary workers?”

I couldn’t understand what Assistant Manager Jeong was saying, but it seemed like he was frustrated by my reaction.

“Well, it’s mostly because of the burden of labor costs. Of course, there are other reasons if you dig deeper, but that’s the main one.”

This didn’t seem like something I could easily understand in a conversation with Assistant Manager Jeong.

“Hmm… Well, I guess I’ll just leave it at that. I don’t think I can fully understand this right now, and even if I do, it seems like there’s nothing I can do about it. By the way, do you remember the request I made earlier?”

“Contact information for Chairman Jang Tae-san of Future Finance?”

“Yes, could you look into that for me?”

***

Money received from Manager’s house.

“What’s this? Why does it look fine?”

In the staff lounge, Assistant Manager Jeong Hyun-soo, who had gone to pick up Manager Mang, pulled Jeong Dae-ri over to his side and asked in a low voice so that the other employees wouldn’t overhear.

“You said his condition was really bad over the phone earlier, right?”

Jeong Dae-ri recalled the fact that the 10 million won in 1 million won bills he had just received from Manager Mang was currently in his wallet and hesitated.

“They did everything they could to sober him up. He took hangover medicine, and I even gave him coffee with chewing gum… During the short lunch break, how much could he have drunk, and how drunk could he have gotten? At first, I thought it wouldn’t work, but surprisingly, he sobered up quickly.”

“If you drank that much, why not just go home instead of doing things you don’t usually do?”

Jeong Dae-ri put on his best acting skills.

“How would I know? He called me, and when I got there, he was drunk, and I’m not sure why, but he insisted on coming back to the company…”

“Wait. Does this mean the chairman or an executive from headquarters is visiting?”

Jeong Dae-ri thought that it was a reasonable suspicion from Assistant Manager Kim’s point of view, but he was determined to make sure he earned the 10 million won he had just received from Manager Mang.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“No?”

“Yes, he didn’t give me all the details, but it seemed like he just had some paperwork to take care of.”

A little while later, Assistant Manager Kim gently patted Jeong Dae-ri on the shoulder and said.

“Anyway, good job. Don’t think too badly about it. What else can we do? He’s still the chairman’s son, so no matter how bad he is, he’s not going to stay in our HR department forever, right?”

“…”

“Upstairs, they all say it’s just a one-year show, and I think that’s true too. If we hang in there a little longer, he’ll be sent somewhere else, whether it’s headquarters or another place, so don’t stress too much. Let’s just do our own work.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m fine.”

And then, with what Assistant Manager Kim said next, Jeong Dae-ri felt a bit guilty and realized that he owed an apology to Assistant Manager Kim and the HR team.

“Sorry.”

“…What? Why?”

“I’m the one who’s been passing all the hard tasks related to Manager Mang’s crap onto you, Jeong Dae-ri.”

“…”

“But from my perspective, there’s nothing I can do. I’m the assistant manager, I can’t be doing the work of a manager myself, and I can’t ask Manager Park to do it either. Manager Park is in HRD, and Manager Mang is in HRM, so I have no choice but to ask you, since you’re in the same department as him.”

“Yes, I understand. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, damn it. I have to do it too. I mean, I curse dozens of times a day because of that damn Manager Mang, but I keep it in. I can’t risk my livelihood because of that guy.”

“…”

“Anyway, thanks. I’ll go up first. Take your time, have a coffee and a cigarette, then come up slowly. I’ve already set up some errands for you. Here, take this card. Use it for coffee.”

“It’s fine, I’ll pay for it myself.”

“Tch… It’s because I feel sorry for you. Every time something like this happens, I feel bad that I can’t cover for you properly, and I keep making you do all the hard work. Here, take it. Get something expensive. Just keep the receipt.”

Jeong Hyun-soo, holding the card that Assistant Manager Kim had given him, didn’t buy any coffee and immediately went up to the smoking room.

He had received a large sum of money—10 million won.

And before receiving that money, he had already agreed to the deal to keep Manager Son Jeong-hoon’s secret and help him out.

No matter how much he thought about it, he felt like it was a deal he shouldn’t have made, and the money in his wallet made him uneasy.

So, he lit a cigarette.

Was his pride really so easily sold?

Was his conscience really so weak?

In the end, he thought, I’m just as bad.

Jeong Hyun-soo reflected on the situation again while smoking, trying to get rid of the burning feeling inside. He thought about what he would have done if the situation from earlier, receiving the check at Manager Son’s house, had occurred again.

Would he have accepted the money again, just like before?

It felt like a big mistake.

A mistake he should never have made.

After finishing his cigarette and making sure the smell was gone, he returned to the office.

“Hey, Jeong Dae-ri.”

When he returned to his seat, Manager Son was waiting, leaning toward Jeong Dae-ri and speaking in a low voice.

“Yes?”

“But how do I make a call with this?”

“Excuse me?”

“This. You gave me Chairman Jang Tae-san’s contact earlier.”

“Yes, haven’t you called yet?”

Manager Son waved his smartphone in front of Jeong Dae-ri and frowned.

“I don’t know how to use this… ”

Jeong Dae-ri was still skeptical.

What Manager Son was doing didn’t seem like a joke or an act.

But it was really strange.

If Manager Son truly had no memory, how could he act so normal?

In fact, he seemed more normal than usual, more like a real person.

Had his personality changed, rather than just losing his memory?

What was really going on?

Jeong Dae-ri thought.

If this were a joke, there would be no reason to go this far with him.

“Jeong Dae-ri, you know how to use this, right? Can you make a call with the number you found earlier?”