South Korean workers are growing less sensitive to workplace bullying, according to a new survey.
The civic group Workplace Gapjil 119 said on the 23rd that this year's workplace bullying sensitivity index stood at 63.5 points, based on a survey of 1,000 workers aged 19 and over conducted nationwide from June 1 to 9. The poll was carried out by Global Research, a polling firm.
The index is built from questions describing situations workers may encounter, with higher scores indicating stronger awareness of what constitutes bullying. The score has fallen steadily from 72.5 points in 2023 to 67.8 in 2024, 64.7 in 2025 and 63.5 this year, marking a D grade for the third consecutive year.
Awareness was highest this year for verbal abuse (73.5 points), unpaid wages (72.7), insults (72.4), employment contracts (70.4) and instructions unrelated to work (70.1). By contrast, scores remained low for pressured resignation (47.4), holding departing employees responsible (48.7), commuting (53.4) and workplace culture (53.5).
Of the 30 questions in total, 20 recorded declining scores for four straight years from 2023 to this year. The steepest drop came in a question on off-duty instructions — "A supervisor may ask a subordinate to handle personal matters unrelated to work" — which fell 14.3 points, from 84.4 to 70.1.
The "verbal abuse" question also dropped 14.2 points, from 87.7 to 73.5, while sharp declines were seen in questions on written apologies (-14 points), casual speech (-13.2) and insults (-12.2).
By rank, rank-and-file employees showed the highest sensitivity at 66.2 points, followed by senior managers at 61.6 and middle managers at 59.8. By gender, women scored 66.3 points, 4.9 points higher than men at 61.4.
"Even awareness of behavior once clearly regarded as wrong, such as verbal abuse and insults, is crumbling rapidly," Workplace Gapjil 119 said. "There is a need for stronger training for managers, along with institutional improvements and oversight to ensure that minimum standards under labor law are observed without exception."
One in Three Workers Report Experiencing Workplace Bullying
Nearly seven years after South Korea's law banning workplace bullying took effect, a separate finding shows that three in 10 workers still experience harassment. In the same survey by Workplace Gapjil 119 and Global Research of 1,000 workers aged 19 and over, conducted from June 1 to 9, 32.1% of respondents said they had experienced workplace bullying.
Among those who experienced bullying, 55.1% said they endured it or pretended not to notice. The most common reason for not reporting was that "reporting would not improve the situation," cited by 49%, followed by fear of disadvantages in personnel decisions, cited by 30.1%.
