“Even 500 won a day for instant coffee is too much” ... Employee considers quitting after CEO pulls out calculator [What do you think?]

[Financial News] An office worker’s account has emerged of considering quitting because the company CEO, in an effort to cut costs, even calculated the 500-won cost of the instant coffee one employee drinks each day.
Recently, a post titled “A CEO who begrudges even the 500 won spent on an employee” was published on an online community for office workers. A, who said they had joined the company three months earlier, shared an experience from the company break room.
The problem began when the instant coffee stocked in the break room ran out. When the youngest employee asked whether more should be purchased, the CEO reportedly opened the calculator on their phone and said, “I only bought coffee not that long ago, and you’ve already finished it all?”
The CEO checked the price of a box of 100 instant coffee packets, then calculated the price per packet and how much each employee used per day. A said the CEO then expressed displeasure, saying, “So each person is drinking 500 won’s worth a day? How much is that in a month?” The coffee was eventually restocked, but a notice reading “2 per person per day” was put up in the break room.
The cost of coffee wasn’t the only thing A found uncomfortable.
A said the company also tries to cut costs as much as possible when buying supplies. They said, “They use the cheapest items for everything the company uses, and they don’t even stock toilet paper, so everyone buys their own and uses it.”
Company dinners are held about once a year at an all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant, and employees working overtime are told to leave before the last bus stops running. A said printed documents are also returned to be reused as scrap paper. Describing the situation, A added, “The CEO drives a foreign car, and golf is their hobby.”
A said the CEO’s efforts to save even small amounts of money on employees made it hard to feel attached to the company. They said, “I wasn’t asking for any great benefits, but seeing how they try to save money on employees in every little way, I just can’t feel attached to this place.”
A also admitted that changing jobs again after only three months at the company felt daunting. They said, “I know it’s reckless to leave again just three months after changing jobs, especially in an economic downturn like this, but I feel so disheartened that I can’t keep working at this company.”
Netizens who read the post criticized the CEO for scrutinizing even the employees’ coffee expenses. Some commented, “That would put you off completely,” while another wrote, “One cup of coffee at a golf course could buy a whole box of instant coffee.”


[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter