SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) — Statistics from Tuesday suggest that the number of non-regular workers in South Korea has dropped in 2023, mainly due to a decrease in temporary positions in the construction and retail industries caused by an economic slowdown.
The amount of non-regular employees, which includes part-time, temporary contracts, and outsourced laborers, totaled 8.12 million in August, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous year. This accounts for 37 percent of the country’s 21.95 million salaried workers, down from 37.5 percent the year before.
The decrease was due to the 0.6 percent reduction in temporary positions to 5.26 million and the 0.9 percent drop in outsourced workers and day laborers to 1.96 million, which outweighed the 0.6 percent growth in part-time jobs. Notably, the construction sector lost 97,000 non-regular jobs from the year before, while the wholesale and retail sector had a decrease of 42,000 temp jobs.
However, the health care and social service sector, as well as the accommodations and dining sector, experienced an increase in non-regular jobs due to the heightened demand for such services in the post-pandemic era.
43.8 percent of the total irregular workers were men, while 56.2 percent were women. The majority of these employees were aged 60 and older, accounting for 32.2 percent, followed by people in their 50s with 20 percent and those in their 20s and teenagers combined with 19.4 percent.
The average monthly salary for non-regular workers between June and August was 1.96 million won (US$1,456), an increase of 76,000 won from the previous year. The comparable figure for regular workers was 3.62 million won.
Non-regular workers had been employed in their current positions for an average of 32 months as of August, up two months from the year before.
Statistics Korea conducts an annual survey on types of employment among the country’s economically active population every August to better develop labor policies and use the data for related research.
South Korea has seen on-year monthly job growth since March 2021, and the growth accelerated for the second consecutive month in September. However, the hiring of those aged 60 and older grew the most in September, and the payrolls in the manufacturing sector went down by the most in five months as the economy has grown at a slower pace due to aggressive monetary tightening by major nations to curb inflation and the subsequent weak global demand.
This file photo taken Aug. 9, 2023, shows a jobseeker looking at a bulletin board at an employment center in Seoul. (Yonhap)
graceoh@yna.co.kr
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