Working Remote With Printers And Desktop Computers? Starbucks South Korea Asks Customers To Not Bring Bulky Equipment – CoffeeTalk

Starbucks South Korea is addressing the trend of employees working from home in cafes, treating them as their own office spaces. The company has updated its policy to ensure a pleasant and accessible store experience for all customers, while also allowing laptops and smaller personal devices. Starbucks South Korea is majority owned by retail giant E-Mart Inc. as of 2021, and Starbucks continues to oversee its licensed business.

The term “cagongjok” refers to individuals spending prolonged periods of time working at cafés, which has gained public awareness due to the COVID-induced remote-work boom and the rise of temporary-contract jobs following the 1997 Asian financial crisis. However, some café owners are not sympathetic to this change, calling cagongjok “electricity thieves” and claiming patrons stay working at their businesses for hours while nursing just a single cup of coffee in that time.

Korea has a strong tearoom culture, where people gather in the tearooms to discuss literature, art, politics, or whatever they feel civilized. However, the pandemic has led to an influx of employees needing to work remotely, and government redevelopment restrictions have limited the amount of space available for businesses to set up their employees in office spaces. Office vacancies in Seoul remained low last quarter at around 2.6%, while rent for the offices increased on average 1.5% from the quarter before.

Korean companies failing to find or afford office spaces have led some to let employees work in third-party co-working spaces or remotely, leaving many to flock to cafés. Elfving-Hwang believes it was only a matter of time before coffee shops itched to shift the balance back toward reputations of relaxation.

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