240,000 Won a Day Can’t Fill the Gap: The Unlikely Hiring Struggle of a Logistics Center in a Recession

Time approaching midnight. The number of fresh bags coming out of the slide and outlet starts to increase significantly. Fresh foods to be delivered by Rocket Fresh to customers’ homes early in the morning are lined and packaged. As the work is delayed, four workers join one line.

“Everyone was busy working as fresh bags and boxes came down the slide non-stop.”

“You have to work long hours and suffer fatigue to earn up to 240,000 won a day, but I believe you are compensated for the amount of work you do.”

There are companies that are busy recruiting in a recession that requires them to reduce their workforce. These are places that specialize in early morning delivery.

Coupang is one of them. Because there are so many in the early morning, the ‘recruitment shortage’ is always a difficult problem that does not have a clear answer.

According to Coupang on the 5th, its subsidiaries, Coupang Logistics Service and Coupang Fulfillment Service, are constantly recruiting. A feature of hiring in these companies is that they do not consider experience or gender. The barrier to entry in the midst of the youth employment crisis is low.

In fact, looking at the permanent employment conditions of Coupang Logistics Service, which mainly deals with delivery, you can work any day and time you want regardless of your experience, gender or age.

Coupang Fulfillment Service, responsible for sorting and packing logistics, is recruiting contract workers, and you can join immediately without experience, gender or conditions. The monthly salary is up to 3.61 million won (based on Mokcheon Logistics Center 1), and the work includes simple warehousing, transportation and sorting, and training is provided for beginners.

In particular, the Coupang Logistics Center is known for the work and intensity of the work done through YouTube video reviews of college students, housewives, and YouTubers seeking side jobs or short-term part-time jobs. Although there are different evaluations of the work, such as one review saying, “I almost lost my soul folding boxes in Coupang,” the common point is that “you are treated at a high level for the effort you put into in. ” Reviews also say that the meals provided by the company have improved significantly compared to the past.

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YouTuber part-time job experience in Coupang logistics center.[사진 제공 = 유튜브 캡처]

If you listen to the stories of those who have experience working part-time at the Coupang logistics center, physical strength is considered above all else. As it is a repetitive process of transporting and sorting logistics, physical preparation is required. In the case of night work, people often complain of lack of sleep.

Ms A, a woman with experience working part-time at the Coupang logistics center as a side job in the middle of winter, said, “When I first came to the team at the center (where packaged products do the preparations final before proceeding out to each camp), I asked, ‘Do I have to continue to wear winter clothes?’” “The Dongtan dynasty partner said, ‘When night falls, you will want to take it off automatically.’ “I didn’t take off my winter clothes until the end because I was afraid I would catch a cold, but when I got back to the locker room and opened the zipper, my body was hot,” he recalled.

Mr B, a man who worked at the Coupang logistics center as a part-time night worker, said, “Honestly, I think it would be difficult to hold two jobs at the same time as work,” citing lack of sleep as the reason.

Ms. C, a 49-year-old woman who worked at the Coupang logistics center for a year and earned an average of 2.36 million won per month, expressed satisfaction, saying, “This is precious money for me.”

One of the advantages of working part-time in Coupang is that you can only work when you want. If you look at the actual job information, you can choose to work during the day, afternoon, or late at night for each logistics center.

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A 49-year-old woman working in a Coupang logistics centre.[사진 제공 = 유튜브 캡처]

Some are calling for the improvement of the working environment, which can lead to overwork, following a series of daily worker deaths that occurred at the Coupang logistics centre.

Mr D said, “Anyone who has worked in a logistics center knows this,” adding, “The intensity of the work we think about is different. “If you combine working early in the morning with fatigue, it’s very fatal,” he said.

Mr E, who spent the summer at the Coupang logistics center, said, “It is true that the work is overloaded, but what is more difficult is the hot weather,” and expressed the need to improve the working environment , such as installing an air conditioner.