In April, 380,000 More Business Workers, but 230,000 Are Temporary or Daily Workers

Economic Recovery and Base Effects... Largest Increase in Total Workers in 20 Months

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The number of workers employed by domestic businesses increased by about 380,000 last month. The growth was driven by economic recovery, but temporary and daily workers made up the majority.

According to the Business Workforce Survey released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 31st, as of the last business day of last month, the number of workers employed by domestic businesses with one or more employees was 18,602,000, an increase of 379,000 (2.1%) compared to the same month last year. This was the largest monthly increase in the number of business workers in 20 months since August 2019 (396,000).

The number of business workers had been declining from March last year, when the employment shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic began in earnest, until February this year, but turned positive in March and expanded the increase last month. This is interpreted as being influenced by the economic recovery in some industries due to the easing of social distancing measures. A base effect also played a role, as the number of business workers sharply decreased in April last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, among business workers, the number of regular employees increased by only 109,000 (0.7%). In contrast, temporary and daily workers increased by 234,000 (14.0%). This indicates that relatively unstable jobs increased significantly. Other workers, including special employment workers such as delivery drivers, also increased by 36,000 (3.3%).

By industry, the largest increases in workers were in health and social welfare services (131,000), education services (85,000), professional, scientific, and technical services (53,000), and information and communication (51,000).

The accommodation and food service industry, which suffered significant damage from the COVID-19 pandemic, saw a decrease of 31,000 workers last month. The number of workers in accommodation and food services has been declining for 15 consecutive months since February last year.

Looking at changes in the number of business workers by region, most cities and provinces, including Gyeonggi (95,000), Seoul (44,000), and Daegu (33,000), showed positive growth.

In March, the total wage per worker in businesses with one or more regular employees was 3,606,000 KRW, an increase of 132,000 KRW (3.8%) compared to the same month last year.

The wage for regular employees was 3,795,000 KRW, up 154,000 KRW (4.2%), while temporary and daily workers earned 1,694,000 KRW, an increase of 35,000 KRW (2.1%).

The average working hours per worker were 168.7 hours, an increase of 0.1 hours (0.1%) compared to the same month last year.

The Business Workforce Survey conducted monthly by the Ministry of Employment and Labor targets domestic businesses with fixed workplaces, excluding agriculture and others, so workers in household service industries without fixed workplaces are excluded.

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