청년 조리사의 불안정 노동경험에 관한 연구: 도제식 고용관행에서 창의적 노동의 의미화를 중심으로

This study analyzes the experience of precarious work of young cooks by focusing on the life stage of young adulthood and the characteristics of the cooks’ labor. The purpose of this study is to reveal the microscopic contexts of how the meaning of creative work in apprenticeship employment practices is linked to the continuation of precarious work and exploitation. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 young cooks who worked in small- and medium-sized specialty restaurants in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. Results are as follows. First, interviewees experience long hours, high levels of labor intensity, and an absence of breaks. They are exposed to poor health such as burnout, erosion of social relationships, and relative deprivation. These work experiences lead to anxiety about the sustainability of their work and life as cooks. Second, the mechanism for pursuing culinary work despite poor work conditions is attributed to the characteristics of apprenticeship employment, in which wage labor and training are mixed. Given that improvement of skill level through the labor process is important for young cooks, an environment in which new culinary skills can be learned is given priority when looking for a workplace or changing jobs. Accordingly, they accept working overtime to obtain opportunities for learning in their workplace. The practices of apprenticeship employment have resulted in a unique perception of the employment relationship, which makes it difficult to raise complaints about work conditions. Third, in the process of establishing the meaning of culinary work as creative labor and finding an opportunity to combine the conception and execution of the labor process, young cooks accept their relatively lower economic compensation and poor work conditions. Fourth, the current labor experience and prospects for future of young cooks are mutually constructed, and the social stratification within the cooks leads to anxiety about their future prospect. Consequently, the meaning of creative labor as well as the purpose and orientation of labor are formed during skill learning through labor in their apprenticeship employment. This process is regarded as symbolic compensation and becomes a mechanism for young cooks to endure and justify their poor work conditions. Based on these characteristics, young cooks experience frequently leaving and reentering jobs in order to recover from poor health or learn and improve their skills. It also results in precarious daily work along with income loss and an insufficient social protection system for young cooks. Lastly, this study discusses the limitations of the employment- welfare system and self-exploitation, revelation of agency for future, and the paradoxical relationship of good labor.