Auto Repair Shop Owner Covers Payroll with Delivery Side Gig
A, who runs an auto repair business, has taken on delivery work on the side to pay his employees' salaries and service his loans. According to media reports based on Statistics Korea's Economically Active Population Survey, the number of multiple jobholders—those working side jobs in addition to their main occupation—reached roughly 680,000 last year, the highest since records began. A, a former certified auto mechanic, is one of them. Summing up the 'limits of labor' he has come to feel firsthand behind the wheel of a delivery van, he said: "You have to do work that earns money even while you're lying down asleep."
He said that although he built his business with his own hands, side-job income is barely keeping the main business afloat—the business environment itself has not improved. The crisis began with the low-interest policy funds he received during COVID-19, loans the government extended to ease interest burdens. He had hoped sales would recover once the pandemic ended, but revenue has stagnated for years while prices and labor costs kept climbing. As the grace period ended and principal repayments kicked in, his financing costs ballooned from around 2 million won a month to two or three times that. "Just when I thought things were getting better, principal payments came due and interest rates rose—there's no way out," A said.
His rent is around 6 million won a month—already cheap for the space, since the building is owned by a relative—and recently it was cut in half, yet he still could not pay on time. His shop survives only by drawing on both his family's generosity and his own additional labor.
Many government support programs are designed around small business owners, capping both the number of regular employees and revenue. The long-term delinquent debt adjustment program for the self-employed announced by the government recently also targets small business owners. "Auto repair shops often don't qualify as small businesses because of their revenue or headcount," A pointed out. Even when nothing is left after parts, labor, rent, and loan repayments, the books show figures above the eligibility thresholds. The bigger a shop grows to carry multiple employees' wages, the harder it is to receive support.
The more fundamental pressure is the industrial transition. A large share of an internal combustion engine repair shop's revenue comes from recurring consumable maintenance—oils, parts, and the like—most of which simply do not exist for electric vehicles. Converting to EV repair requires new equipment and technicians trained in new skills, which takes money and time. For a shop with stagnant sales being chased by loan repayments, that is a difficult leap to make. A said that if he lets his employees go, he will be the first to collapse.
