ORGANIZATION & HR

Characteristics of Companies Where Employees Stay Long-Term — Respect, Not Salary, Drives Long-Term Employment

Statistics Korea data shows that the average duration of a youth's first job is only 1 year and 6.4 months, and Incruit data indicates that the primary cause of early resignation is not salary but 'job mismatch' (58.9%), demonstrating that the key to long-term employment lies in organizational culture. According to Gallup's 2026 report, global employee engagement stands at only 20%, and while a 'great stay' phenomenon driven by economic uncertainty is emerging in South Korea, this resembles defensive retention rather than voluntary engagement. Companies where employees stay long-term share five common traits: phased onboarding, systematic handover processes, non-aggressive managerial feedback styles, clear roles and responsibilities, respect for rest and leaving work on time, and a peer culture free of hazing. Notably, 70% of the variance in team engagement stems from managers, and as Google's Project Aristotle confirmed, 'psychological safety'—where mistakes and questions do not lead to punishment—forms the foundation of high-performing teams and long-term employment. Long-term employment is not a matter of chance, but the result of an operational system designed to 'respect people'; because salary can be a reason to join, but respect is the reason to stay, investing in organizational culture is ultimately a matter of profitability.