August Business Workers Increased by 224,000 Only... "Impact of COVID-19"

Lowest in 5 Months... 35,000 Decrease in Accommodation and Food Services
85,000 Decrease in Public Administration

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Due to the impact of the fourth wave of COVID-19, the increase in the number of workers in domestic businesses has fallen to the lowest level in five months.

According to the Business Workforce Survey results announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 30th, as of the last business day of last month, the total number of workers in domestic businesses with one or more employees was 18,852,000, an increase of only 224,000 (1.2%) compared to the same month last year. This monthly increase in the number of business workers is the smallest since March (193,000).

Source=Ministry of Employment and Labor

The accommodation and food service workers, hit hard by the 'social distancing' measures due to the spread of COVID-19, decreased by 35,000 last month. The travel industry and other business facility management sectors also decreased by 12,000.

Public administration workers, including government and local government job projects, also decreased by 85,000. This is interpreted as a base effect due to the large-scale job projects implemented in August last year, which caused a rapid increase in public administration jobs.

Manufacturing workers, the backbone of domestic industry, increased by 22,000. Manufacturing workers have maintained an increasing trend for four consecutive months since May this year.

Workers in health and social welfare services also increased by 112,000, and those in professional, scientific, and technical services and information and communication industries increased by 59,000 and 56,000 respectively.

Although the growth in the number of workers across all industries slowed last month, considering the sharp decrease in public administration workers, the Ministry of Employment and Labor views this as a signal that the center of employment recovery after the COVID-19 crisis may be shifting from the public to the private sector.

Last month, the number of regular workers increased by 130,000, and temporary and daily workers increased by 88,000. In terms of growth rate, regular workers increased by only 0.8%, while temporary and daily workers increased by 4.7%. Other workers, including special employment types such as insurance planners, increased by 5,000.

Source=Ministry of Employment and Labor

As of July, the total wage per regular worker in domestic businesses with five or more regular employees was 3,769,000 KRW, up 243,000 KRW (6.9%) compared to the same month last year.

The total wage for regular workers was 3,984,000 KRW, up 7.1% (264,000 KRW). Temporary and daily workers earned 1,713,000 KRW, up 5.5% (89,000 KRW).

The relatively low wage increase rate for temporary and daily workers is also analyzed to be influenced by the increase in temporary and daily workers in low-wage industries.

Source=Ministry of Employment and Labor

The Ministry of Employment and Labor also released the results of the labor conditions survey by city and province on the same day.

As of April, the total wage per regular worker in businesses with five or more regular employees was highest in Seoul (4,452,000 KRW), followed by Ulsan (4,331,000 KRW).

In the total wage survey by city and province, Ulsan held the top position until 2019, but due to the regional industrial contraction caused by the COVID-19 crisis last year, it lost first place to Seoul and has not reversed the ranking this year either.

The lowest total wage was in Jeju (3,073,000 KRW), followed by Daegu (3,313,000 KRW).

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