"I Went for an Interview and Saw a 'Pantry Cleaning Duty Roster' on the Wall"...Prospective Employee Unsure About Joining [What Do You Think?]

[Financial News] A story has spread about a job seeker who says they are now hesitant to join a company after spotting a roster assigning employees to clean the office pantry during a job interview visit.
According to The Korea Economic Daily on the 12th, a post titled "I went for an interview, but the pantry made me feel like I should run away" recently appeared on an online office worker community.
The poster, identified as A, wrote, "I went to the interview with fairly high expectations, but I was shocked after getting a brief look inside the company," adding, "While I was waiting, I happened to walk past the pantry, and there was a huge noticeboard with a 'duty roster for pantry cleaning and supplies management' listing employees' names by date in large letters."
A said, "It was my first time seeing a place where, instead of hiring dedicated staff to manage the pantry, employees take turns cleaning it themselves," and continued, "Looking at the names, it even seemed skewed toward certain seniority levels or one gender, which made me feel even more uncomfortable."
They went on, "Even before the interview started, I was left with a strong impression that this company takes it for granted that non-work-related menial chores are pushed onto employees."
A added, "The interviewers were kind, and I liked the job I would be doing, but I just can’t get that duty roster out of my head," and asked, "People say small details reveal an organization’s culture. Is it best to avoid a company that has this kind of duty system?"
Office workers who read the story commented, "It’s not even the restroom; I think cleaning the pantry is manageable," "I work at a company ranked in the top 30 by market capitalization, and every Friday employees briefly clean shared departmental areas and their own desks," "We outsource the basics, but the pantry is unavoidable—even large corporations have duty rosters," and "It’s a problem if only women are assigned, but if everyone takes turns fairly, it’s fine."
One office worker shared a real-life example, saying, "At our company, only female employees clean the pantry," and complained, "Male employees and the female department head who made the rule are excluded from the duty roster. When men ask to be put on the same rotation as the women, she says it puts her in an awkward position."
Others, however, said, "Check whether employees are only being asked to clean the pantry," "You’re better off just avoiding a company like that," "You can tell how a company views its employees by looking at the condition of the pantry," and "If the company at least provides basic drinks (coffee, green tea, etc.) and snacks, then taking turns cleaning is acceptable."
Meanwhile, in 2022 it was revealed that a regional branch of the Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives had been making female employees clean restrooms, cook rice, and wash dishes, sparking controversy. Employees were required to arrive before 8:30 a.m. every day and clean their assigned areas. The places they had to clean included the restrooms, the chairperson’s office, meeting rooms, the customer hall, the pantry, break areas, and virtually every other space.
moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter