Delivery Partners, Fragmented Part-Time Jobs Spread... Is the 'Mini-Job' Era Coming to Korea?

Increase in 'Ultra-Short-Term Jobs' with Short Working Hours
Surged 28% in April Compared to Last Year
'Minijobs' Already Active in Some European Countries Like Germany
Employment Rate Rises but Concerns Over Decline in Job Quality

Convenience store part-time worker. Recently, the number of 'split part-time' jobs working less than 15 hours per week has been increasing. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The so-called 'ultra-short-term jobs,' such as delivery partners and split part-time jobs, are increasing. Amid sluggish recovery in the domestic industry due to the spread of COVID-19, employers are coping by reducing workers' working hours. There is also a view that 'Mini-jobs,' which have spread in some advanced countries like Germany, could become a trend in South Korea as well.

Recently, it has been confirmed that major domestic delivery companies such as Coupang Eats, Baedal Minjok, and GS Retail are competitively introducing the 'delivery partner' system. Delivery partners are ultra-short-term part-time workers who are not employed by the company receiving hourly wages but instead receive payment per delivery task after securing delivery orders.

Once a task is selected, the delivery partner picks up the delivery items at a designated location and delivers them to the customer. Anyone can participate by simply registering as a partner on the platform, and the delivery means vary widely, from cars to motorcycles, bicycles, and even on foot.

The number of delivery partners has increased significantly over the past year. The number of Baedal Minjok partners grew nearly fivefold from about 10,000 at the end of 2019 to 50,000 by the end of last year. GS Retail's 'Our Neighborhood Delivery' recorded over 10,000 subscribers by December last year and surged to 70,000 in April.

Delivery partners are ordinary people who register as partners on an application (app) and receive tasks they want. The photo is unrelated to any specific expression in the article. Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, a new concept of part-time job called 'split part-time job' has emerged. Split part-time jobs involve dividing the working hours of one part-time worker among several people. For example, if one person previously worked 30 hours a week, three people are hired to work 10 hours each per week under this contract method.

Split part-time jobs were created to minimize labor costs. Based on the current Labor Standards Act, which does not apply paid holidays to workers working less than 15 hours per week, this method creates multiple ultra-short-term jobs to avoid paying weekly holiday allowances.

As ultra-short-term jobs have increased significantly, although the total number of employed persons is rising, the quality of employment is deteriorating.

According to the 'April Employment Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the 16th, the number of employed persons increased by 652,000 from the previous year to 27.214 million. However, ultra-short-term jobs, defined as working 1 to 17 hours per week, also surged. Ultra-short-term jobs increased by 463,000 from the previous year, nearly a 28% rise. The proportion of ultra-short-term jobs among all workers also rose by 1.5 percentage points from 6.3% last year to 7.8%.

There is a view that so-called 'mini-jobs' could spread in the domestic job market as well. Mini-jobs are part-time jobs mainly found in some European countries like Germany, where labor flexibility has been implemented, and are ultra-short-term jobs earning less than 400 euros (about 550,000 KRW) per month.

Germany, the representative country for mini-jobs, implemented the 'Hartz' labor reforms gradually from 2003 to 2005, flexibilizing the labor market and reforming the social security system. As a result, mini-jobs, which are ultra-short-term part-time jobs, became active, and the employment rate greatly improved. Before the spread of COVID-19, in 2019, Germany's employment rate was 76.7%, the highest among the 27 European Union countries.

From 2003 to 2005, the labor reform known as the "Hartz Reform" was implemented for three years, leading to a significant increase in mini-jobs in the German labor market. / Photo by Yonhap News

However, there has also been criticism that mini-jobs have only increased the number of jobs but degraded workers' living standards.

The Hans B?ckler Foundation, a German social and labor policy think tank, released research showing that about 44% of mini-job workers do not receive the German statutory minimum wage. Dr. Alexander Stein of the foundation pointed out, "We should not focus solely on specific numbers to increase the employment rate," adding, "The government's role is to look at the quality of life of workers, not just the numbers."

Given this situation, public opinion on ultra-short-term jobs is divided. Some argue that they can help vulnerable groups who need sources of income, while others worry that they could worsen the lives of all workers.

A university student A (24), who tried split part-time jobs during the vacation period, said, "These days, the economy is not good, and it's hard to find even one part-time job, so I'm very grateful that split part-time jobs provide a way to earn pocket money. Of course, if too many split part-time jobs appear, the overall quality of jobs will deteriorate, but for job seekers who need money right now, it can be a great help."

The civic group 'Cheongnyeon Union' held a press conference last year and urged, "Please make the weekly holiday allowance a basic wage to eliminate wage discrimination between those working less than 15 hours and those working more." / Photo by Yonhap News

On the other hand, office worker B (31) argued, "No matter what new term you create, ultra-short-term part-time jobs are a more degraded form of employment than contract or temporary jobs. If this employment form becomes the mainstream in the job market, workers will inevitably suffer more from poverty."

Another office worker C (28) expressed concern, saying, "People who seek these jobs are those with unstable employment or insufficient living expenses. The entrenchment of ultra-short-term jobs could become another means of exploiting workers."

Meanwhile, bills to protect the increasing number of ultra-short-term workers have been proposed in the National Assembly.

On the 5th of last month, Ryu Hojung, a Justice Party lawmaker, held a press conference in front of the National Assembly fountain and announced plans to propose the 'Youth Split Part-time Job Prevention Act.'

On that day, Representative Ryu explained the reason for proposing the bill, saying, "Not granting paid holidays simply because working hours are short is an unreasonable discrimination against the right to rest," adding, "It is equivalent to providing businesses with reasons to expand employment of ultra-short-term workers."

The amendment to the Labor Standards Act proposed by Representative Ryu aims to delete the exclusion clause for paid holidays and to pay weekly holiday allowances to workers working less than 15 hours per week.

Lee Chae-eun, chairperson of the Youth Union, who participated in the press conference, also urged, "The 15-hour cutoff was created based on an outdated judgment that short working hours are not for livelihood purposes," adding, "We must abandon discriminatory treatment that assigns different values to labor based on time."

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