A convenience store owner arranges goods at his store in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. / Korea Times file



Owners suffer from declining profits amid soaring wages and rent



By Lee Suh-yoon



Convenience store owners have often been under the media spotlight for abusing part-time employees or engaging in other questionable behavior.



However, owners suffer with their share of difficulties while running their 24-hour retail stores. At the top of the list is managing part-time workers, who are mostly in their late teens and early 20s. Some part-timers simply won't show up without giving prior notice or will steal cash or goods from the stores.



In some cases, owners are wrongly accused of unfair labor practices by ill-intentioned workers, according to convenience store chains.



Kim, a convenience store owner in his mid-30s, says these problems make him cautious about employing part-time workers.



"Things disappear sometimes. Although I want to think these things happen from mistakes, I still have to be cautious," he said. "So when I employ new part-time workers, I always try to find someone through connections rather than employing a complete stranger."



Other convenience store owners have also spoken out in the local media, claiming workers regularly steal drinks, household items and cash.



Some owners even claimed part-time employees wrongly reported them to the labor ministry after they accused workers of slacking off on their duties.



What bothers Kim more than these problems, he says, is the recent minimum wage hike.



"Part-time workers are often very young so their work efficiency is low when carrying out their duties such as cleaning, organizing stock or working with customers," Kim said. "It feels burdensome to pay higher wages when the workers' productivity level remains the same."



President Moon Jae-in's administration raised the minimum wage to 7,530 won per hour from 6,470 won this year.



Rising minimum wages and low work efficiency of part-time workers are partly why Kim chooses to work long hours on his own. Kim works behind the counter five days a week, only employing part-time workers during the weekends.



Four out of 10 convenience store owners work without a single day off during the year, according to a survey by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in February.



Even if owners commit themselves full-time behind the counter, many still have to rely on part-time workers because major convenience store chains require stores to be open 24 hours, 365 days a year.



The country is now home to around 40,000 franchise convenience stores. With the industry reaching its saturation point, more store owners are struggling to make ends meet.



As such, many of them now fire workers before the training period ends, since doing so after the three-month period requires owners to pay compensation fees.



The high rent doesn't help, nor does the fact store owners must pay 35 percent to 60 percent of the profits to the franchise company.

