The Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) reported on the 13th that the average number of vacation days for 528 corporations with five or more employees surveyed in the '2025 Summer Vacation Status and Economic Outlook Survey' was calculated to be 3.7 days.
Among the corporations surveyed, 42.5% reported that the number of vacation days was '3 days.' This was followed by '5 days or more' at 32.6%, '2 days or less' at 12.8%, and '4 days' at 12.0%.
By size of corporation, those with 300 or more employees had the highest percentage at '5 days or more' with 64.7%, followed by '4 days' at 19.6% and '3 days' at 15.7%. For corporations with fewer than 300 employees, '3 days' at 45.8% was most common, followed by '5 days or more' at 28.8%, '2 days or less' at 14.4%, and '4 days' at 11.1%.
By industry, 77.3% of the manufacturing sector showed a tendency to take vacations concentrated in a short period (about 1 week). 'Long-term (1 to 2 months)' accounted for 16.1%, and the '2-week shift' method was at 6.6%. In contrast, non-manufacturing corporations experienced 'long-term implementation' at 73.6%, followed by 'short-term implementation' at 17.2% and '2-week shifts' at 9.2%.
For corporations that chose 'short-term implementation' and '2-week shifts,' the vacation period most frequently reported was 'late July' at 49.4%. This was followed by 'early August' at 42.2% and 'mid-August' at 4.0%.
Among the corporations conducting summer vacations, 53.9% reported plans to provide vacation pay. This represents a decrease of 2.6 percentage points compared to last year. Corporations with 300 or more employees had a higher proportion of vacation pay distribution (63.3%) compared to those with fewer than 300 employees (52.7%).
The percentage of corporations planning to implement a system for promoting the use of annual leave is 63.3%, which is an increase of 4.1 percentage points compared to last year.
Meanwhile, regarding the economic outlook for the second half of the year, 46.8% of corporations responded that it would worsen compared to the first half. Those stating it would 'remain the same' accounted for 37.5%, and 15.6% responded it would 'improve.' Among corporations with 300 or more employees, 53.3% stated it would 'remain the same'. The majority of those with fewer than 300 employees responded that it would 'worsen' at 48.0%.