conflict at work
Immigrant women experience various cultural differences and discrimination at work while doing their jobs. They especially made references to how most of them work in 3D industries which Koreans avoid because they are foreign laborers. Also, Koreans are relatively more intensive than immigrant people and think of long work hours as natural but this gave immigrant women a hard time.
I work from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. I am not the only one. There aren’t many immigrants who come here and do good things. I work in the 3D industry doing so-called hard and dirty work. For example, young people work in companies, men work in the field, more educated people work in places like instructors and trading companies, and women in their 40s and 50s work as housekeepers, restaurants, etc. (participant 2) I worked as an accountant at a travel agency in the Philippines, and the working hours were shorter than here, about 8 hours. Because I can have my own time outside of work, I was able to meet my friends and have a good time. However, working life in Korea is not like that. My most dissatisfaction is that I am physically very tired and do not have time to be alone because I work almost 12 hours a day or more. (participant 5)
In addition, discrimination is more demanding for women who immigrate from the same workplace or easier for Koreans. Korean workers sometimes disparaged their behavior. In severe participants, migrant women were not paid in full or at all even if their working hours were extended.
There are participants where Korean customers treat me too recklessly or look down on me because I’m not good at talking when I work. At times like that, I feel disgusted, and when I think about paying other Korean employees but delaying me, the boss is annoyed and hates Korea. (participant 3) Now I work at a restaurant, but there are many difficulties and low salaries. Wages are lower than Koreans. I sometimes get scolded for eating while working in a restaurant. Even if he ate the same amount as Koreans, he said, ”Did you starve like a beggar in Vietnam?” (participant 8)