BTS over jobs? UAE fans reschedule lives, cancel plans ahead of K-Pop band's world tour

How far are you willing to go for your faves? For BTS fans, there seems to be no limit.

The K-pop supergroup is currently gearing up for their comeback in March, kicking off a grand world tour that will continue well into next year.

On January 13, the much-awaited dates for BTS’s world tour ‘Arirang’ were released. A week later, the first batch of tickets for concerts in South Korea, Europe and North America went on sale. At the time, BTS fans — known as ARMY — took time off work, prayed and scrambled for the precious tickets, some emerging victorious and some left to try their luck at general sales or at other concert dates later.

Now, fans in the UAE — and beyond — are showing just how much the group means to them, scheduling major life events around their idols.

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BTS over jobs

As BTS fans enter the workforce, they bring their own priorities. Last month, a reel posted by Juhi Bhatia, founder of Dubai-based recruitment firm JB, went viral. In it, she said that a candidate from India refused a job post in Dubai since the start date coincided with the beginning of the BTS world tour.

“This was actually the first time in my recruiting career that I encountered such a unique reason for requesting a later joining date. While I’ve seen candidates ask for extensions for personal or logistical reasons, this was unexpected — but also refreshing in a way,” she said.

“The public reaction to my reel was truly mind-blowing. It reached around 1.7 million views, and nearly 90 per cent of the comments were people supporting the candidate and asking me to move her joining date. It clearly struck a chord with many professionals,” she added.

You can watch the viral reel below.

Ruth D'Souza, who works in real estate, said that she rejected a job offer when the manager who was interviewing her said that she did not like BTS — and that the dislike extended to anyone who did. Ruth said that she made an immediate decision to decline the role, saying that the group is “the reason I push myself to be better every day.” When asked if she regretted her choice, she stood by it, saying that it felt right.

Yet another fan has successfully negotiated her contract to include a week off every year in June for BTS Festa — a week-long celebration for the group and their fans commemorating their debut anniversary on June 13.

While her company eventually agreed to this stipulation, Devika, a financial analyst based in Sharjah, did have to get creative when providing them with a reason.

“I said it was mandatory for me to have one week off every June because it’s my cat’s birthday.”

“I have never owned a cat,” she admitted. “I’ve worked there for five years now. No one has seen this cat. I think they are starting to realize… I’m hoping they don’t figure it out though; I need this job for concert tickets!”

Bhatia eventually negotiated a later start date for the candidate mentioned in her viral video. She said that she believes people should take time off for things that are meaningful to them, and is encouraging of candidates communicating their needs professionally.

She noted the shift in recruitment attitudes, on both the employers and candidates’ sides, explaining that the entire process is becoming more human, and that the focus is increasingly shifting to “quality of life, experiences, and personal well-being.”

Changing family trips, skipping reunions

Yan Hinolan, who runs Bangtan UAE, a huge local fan club, is skipping her high school reunion — and she was tapped to be the MC for the event. “Our batch is hosting and we've been planning it for the last 3 years,” she admitted.

“It will happen but without me,” said the Filipino expat. “Once the tour was announced, I told them I can’t go home.” She will catch BTS on stage in LA in September.

Yan is not alone. Maria Lirio, who works as a CSR assistant manager, went to school in the Philippines, and graduated in 1991. This year, her batch is celebrating their 35-year reunion in LA. She was planning a trip to the US city for months, even paying the $250 fee for the event and combining a family trip in the Pacific Northwest. But now, after she and her sister managed to snag tickets for the Baltimore concert, her US trip has changed course.

“We have to extend our vacation and travel from Seattle to Baltimore for this,” she said, referring to her family trip in the first city.

However, Lirio has no regrets. “BTS is more important,” she said — a sentiment echoed by millions of fans around the world.

Niveditha, an Indian fan in the UAE, said that her family had been planning their annual spring break vacation in March, before she came to know of the Netflix concert livestream. Laughing, she said, “I made (my family) postpone the vacation to the week after.”

She added that the tickets are now “super expensive" — jumping Dh3,000 from Dh4,000 to Dh7,000, but that she would work through that hurdle. She admitted that the change of dates might force her family to pick a new destination, or just holiday within the UAE, but there was “no way I am travelling on that day.”

Keeping fans going through dark times

Syeda Nawab Fathima, an Indian expat, shared how becoming a fan of the group kept her going through dark times.

“I only started following BTS around 2019 and at that time I was struggling with infertility,” she said. The process was difficult, and Syeda felt down during this period. Her entry into the BTS fandom changed that.

“I think I started seeing the idea of getting pregnant in different light. I would think ‘let’s have a baby before 2026 for BTS’, instead of other negative thoughts.”

Eventually, though, it all worked out. “We were looking for an IVF route and I remember the doctor asked us about the implantation date,” Syeda said. She did some mental calculations and decided to have the implantation be done in August 2023 — so that her child would be born just as her favourite BTS member, Jin, got done with his military service.

“It worked out perfectly because my son was born in May and my bias, Jin, was discharged in June,” she said. At first glance, this may seem like a strange way to determine on a child’s birth date, but as Syeda said, “BTS really got me though some tough times during the infertility treatment and pregnancy.”

“Everyone in family knew that I was waiting for the baby and for Jin,” she said, adding that what she loves about the singer is his love for himself, which inspired her to do the same.

BTS has not only managed to captivate the hearts of its fans, but also to motivate them to take charge of their own lives. Sometimes, this agency exerts itself in rescheduling major life events around concerts and albums, but as any BTS fan will tell you, it is a sacrifice they would gladly make.