Non-face-to-face Ventures Have More Than Triple Employment Even Amid the 'COVID-19' Situation

Listed Venture Companies in the Non-Face-to-Face Sector Achieve Results Despite the Impact of COVID-19

Employment Effects of Listed Venture Companies in the Non-Face-to-Face Sector

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] In the first quarter of this year, when the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) spread, companies in the non-face-to-face sector hired more than three times as many employees as companies in the face-to-face sector.

On the 28th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Park Young-sun, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) classified 790 venture companies listed on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ in the first quarter of this year into 'non-face-to-face' and 'face-to-face' categories and analyzed their market capitalization, employment, sales, and operating profit. Non-face-to-face companies were defined as companies whose main business is to reduce human contact in the manufacturing, production, and service delivery processes, as well as companies that develop technologies enabling this.

The survey results showed that the employment creation effect of non-face-to-face companies was higher than that of face-to-face companies in both new employment and growth rate. Compared to the end of last year, face-to-face companies newly hired a total of 1,083 people (1.9 people per company), while non-face-to-face companies newly hired 1,276 people (6.3 people per company) in just the first quarter. Although the number of non-face-to-face companies was 202, less than half of the 568 face-to-face companies, they created 113 more jobs. In terms of growth rate, non-face-to-face companies had 3.9%, more than three times the 1.1% of face-to-face companies.

Among non-face-to-face companies, those in the education, daily consumption, and healthcare sectors created many jobs, and among the top 10 companies in employment creation, companies in the entertainment sector such as gaming were predominant. Non-face-to-face companies also showed more than twice the sales and operating profit growth rates compared to face-to-face companies year-on-year. This is interpreted as indicating excellent future growth potential for non-face-to-face companies in the post-COVID era. The Ministry explained that sales growth rates were particularly high in smart healthcare, daily consumption, smart business, and entertainment sectors.

Market capitalization generally declined due to COVID-19, and the decrease rate in the first quarter compared to the end of last year was similar for both non-face-to-face and face-to-face companies. However, since April, the market capitalization of non-face-to-face companies has increased, and as of the 20th of this month, the year-on-year growth rate of market capitalization for non-face-to-face companies was 12.9%, surpassing the 8.2% of face-to-face companies. The entertainment and foundational technology sectors contributed to this increase in market capitalization in the non-face-to-face sector.

Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry said, "When we comprehensively consider this analysis result along with the first quarter venture investment attraction company analysis, it shows that the growth potential and employment effect of non-face-to-face companies have been proven even amid COVID-19." She added, "To maximize the creation of quality jobs in the post-COVID era, innovative ventures and startups must become the main players in the non-face-to-face industry. To this end, we will focus on nurturing K-Non-face-to-face global innovative companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.