"Employment Boom"... 494,000 More Workers in April, Increasing for 14 Consecutive Months

Average Monthly Wage per Worker 3,837,000 KRW
Working Hours 160.4 Hours... 8.3 Hours Decrease Compared to Previous Year

(Data provided by the Ministry of Employment and Labor)

Last month, the number of workers employed by domestic businesses increased by nearly 500,000, continuing a 14-month growth trend since March of last year. As social distancing measures related to COVID-19 were eased, the number of workers rose across most industries, including accommodation and food services.

According to the April Business Labor 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 businesses with one or more employees was 19.19 million, an increase of 494,000 (2.6%) compared to the same month last year.

The number of business workers has maintained a monthly increase of 400,000 to 500,000, with 500,000 in January, 528,000 in February, and 485,000 in March this year.

Regular employees increased by 264,000 (1.7%) compared to the same month last year, mainly in quarantine and digital-related industries such as health and social welfare, professional, scientific and technical services, and information and communications. Temporary and daily workers increased by 248,000 (13.4%), while other workers decreased by 19,000 (1.7%).

By industry, health and social welfare services increased by 119,000 (6.1%), professional, scientific and technical services by 67,000 (5.9%), and accommodation and food services by 58,000 (5.4%).

Among all industries, manufacturing, which has the largest share of workers, increased by 41,000 (1.1%). This marks 12 consecutive months of growth since May last year.

On the other hand, the number of workers decreased in finance and insurance (-5,000; 0.6%), transportation and warehousing (-1,000; 0.1%), and electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply (-1,000; 1.4%).

The number of new hires increased by 10,000, and the number of job changers rose by 8,000. Hiring increased by 15,000 in health and social welfare, business facilities, support, and rental services, while other new hires, including transfers and reinstatements, decreased by 5,000. Voluntary resignations (41,000) increased, while involuntary resignations (-24,000) and other resignations (-9,000), including COVID-19 related leaves and suspensions, decreased.

The average monthly total wage per worker in March was 3,837,000 KRW, up 6.4% from the previous year.

Among regular employees' wage components, fixed wages increased by 4.1%, overtime pay by 8.0%, and special allowances (548,000 KRW) surged by 25.5%. The Ministry of Employment and Labor explained, "the increase in special allowances is due to expanded special payments in manufacturing related to automobiles and semiconductors, as well as in finance and insurance."

The average monthly working hours per worker were 160.4 hours, down 8.3 hours from the previous year. The Ministry explained, "the decrease in working hours was influenced by a reduction of one working day in the calendar month compared to the same month last year (22 to 21 days) according to government office holiday regulations, as well as a surge in COVID-19 cases."

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