On Tuesday, data revealed that the amount of deliver workers has decreased this year in the wake of a sharp rise in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the number of cooks has reached an all-time high as people have reverted to pre-pandemic life.
Statistics Korea reported that the amount of delivery workers dropped by 24,000 from January to June, making it the first year-on-year decrease since 2019.
In 2019, the couriers and messengers industry had a total of 343,000 jobs, and the figure shot up to 371,000 in 2020, 423,000 in 2021 and 450,000 in 2022 to meet the heightened demand for such services caused by the pandemic.
On the other hand, South Korea witnessed an increase of 83,000 cooks in the same period, bringing the total number to a record high of 1.14 million, according to the data.
The occupation recorded the most significant rate of growth in the country in the first half.
The number of employees in the food and beverage service sector also increased by 62,000 to 581,000, the data showed.
In May, South Korea lifted almost all of its coronavirus restrictions after the World Health Organization declared that the virus was no longer a global health emergency.
This Nov. 28, 2022, photo shows a delivery worker in Seoul. (Yonhap)
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