As high turnover among young workers deepens chronic labor shortages at small and medium-sized businesses, a study analyzing vlog videos posted by departing employees found that "human relationships" are the biggest reason for quitting. The analysis said that isolation within the organization and relationship conflicts, more than pay or workload, are pushing young workers to leave early.
According to a report by senior researcher Kim Yong-hee at H&Consulting published in the latest issue of the Korea SMEs & Startups Institute (KOSI) journal Small and Medium Business Policy Studies on the 7th, an analysis of 314 small and medium-sized business resignation vlogs (about 530,000 words of text) posted on YouTube from February 2020 to February this year found that the factor most closely consolidation with quitting was "human relationships."
The researchers analyzed core keywords that appeared as people described their resignation experiences. As a result, the keyword "consolidation," meaning relationships with coworkers, supervisors, and seniors, appeared 499 times, accounting for 36.9% of the total, the highest share.
By contrast, the keyword "fit," meaning how well an organization's values or culture match the individual, appeared 81 times, the lowest frequency. The researchers interpreted that, rather than abstract complaints about organizational culture, practical issues such as workplace bullying, feelings of exclusion, and broken relationships have a greater impact on quitting.
The second most mentioned factor was "job resources," including training, growth opportunities, and autonomy. Related keywords appeared 256 times. In contrast, "job demands," meaning overtime or excessive workload, appeared 130 times.
This shows, the researchers explained, that young workers are not leaving simply because there is too much work, but because they feel greater frustration over a lack of growth opportunities and an environment where they can learn.
Early resignations also stood out. Among cases where tenure could be confirmed, those who left within one year accounted for 53.6% of the total. This means small and medium-sized businesses are losing talent primarily in the early stages after hiring.
The researchers particularly noted that new employees are being sent into the field without a structured onboarding process. In the resignation vlogs, expressions such as "first time" and "alone" appeared repeatedly, and many cases showed emotional exhaustion after starting work without proper guidance and support.
The report defined this phenomenon as "compound vulnerability." It said a failure to adapt to the organization leads to emotional exhaustion, and that exhausted state, in turn, makes organizational adjustment more difficult, creating a vicious cycle.
Kim said, "Existing policies such as the Tomorrow Filling Deduction mainly provide after-the-fact support by offering financial rewards after a certain period of service," adding, "A preventive approach is needed to reduce early departures at the entry stage."
Kim added, "Small and medium-sized businesses often lack dedicated HR staff," and suggested, "The government should develop and distribute onboarding standard models tailored by industry and company size, and establish a support system that can detect signs of emotional exhaustion among new employees early and connect them to counseling."