Employment Slump Deepens in Accommodation, Food Services, and Retail Sectors

Small and Medium Business Institute to Release 'KOSBI SME Trends' in October

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Since mid-August, the strengthening of social distancing measures has deepened employment sluggishness, especially in accommodation and food services, and retail sectors.

The Small and Medium Business Institute (President Lee Byung-heon) announced this on the 25th in the 'KOSBI SME Trends October 2020 issue.' According to this KOSBI SME Trends report, the number of employees in SMEs with fewer than 300 employees in September was 24,314,000, a decrease of 436,000 compared to the same month last year. This represents a 1.8% decline, continuing a downward trend for seven consecutive months. In particular, the number of employees in companies with 5 to 299 employees decreased by 210,000. The Small and Medium Business Institute emphasized that industries such as accommodation and food services, and retail, where the proportion of vulnerable employment groups is high, require strengthened support to maintain jobs.

In September, SME exports rose 19.6% year-on-year, supported by improved exports to major markets. This export growth rate was the largest increase recorded this year and showed better performance compared to large enterprises (3.8%). In August, retail sales increased by 1.0% year-on-year, maintaining an upward trend, mainly driven by non-store retail (32.6%). Online shopping rose 27.5% compared to the same period last year, with both mobile shopping (27.8%) and internet shopping (26.9%) increasing.

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