Last Year, 850,000 Jobs Added... But Half Are for Those Aged 60 and Over

Statistics Korea, 2021 Job Administrative Statistics
Men's Jobs 1.3 Times That of Women
Average Job Tenure 5.3 Years...Average Worker Age 46.4 Years

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] Although jobs increased by 850,000 compared to the previous year, more than half of them, 55%, were jobs for the elderly aged 60 and over. Last year, the number of jobs lost due to business closures or downsizing reached 2.52 million.

According to the '2021 Job Administrative Statistics' released by Statistics Korea on the 8th, the total number of jobs last year was 25.58 million, an increase of 850,000 (3.5%) compared to the previous year.

Among all jobs, wage employment accounted for 20.95 million (81.9%), and non-wage employment accounted for 4.63 million (18.1%). Continuous jobs held by the same worker as the previous year were 19.33 million (75.6%), and jobs replaced by workers due to retirement or job change were 2.87 million (11.2%). Newly created jobs due to company formation or business expansion were 3.38 million (13.2%), and jobs lost due to company closures or business downsizing were 2.52 million.

By age group, jobs for those aged 60 and over increased by 470,000 (11.9%) compared to the previous year, showing the largest increase. Among the total job increase, 55.3% were jobs for the elderly aged 60 and over. This proportion increased by 1.8 percentage points from 53.5% the previous year.

Jobs for those in their 50s increased by 230,000 (3.8%), and jobs for those in their 40s increased by 100,000 (1.6%), following behind. Among all age groups, only jobs for men in their 30s decreased by 40,000.

By gender, men's jobs accounted for 14.57 million (57%), which is 1.3 times that of women’s 11 million (43%). Compared to the previous year, men's jobs increased by 340,000 (2.4%), and women's jobs increased by 510,000 (4.9%).

Men's jobs were most concentrated in their 40s (24.8%), and women's jobs were most concentrated in their 50s (24%), with the largest gender gap in the 30s age group.

Men mostly held jobs in corporate entities (66.6%) and individual enterprises (53.3%), while women mostly held jobs in non-corporate entities (57.3%) and government/non-profit organizations (60.5%).

Men occupied more jobs in large and small-to-medium enterprises at 63.7% and 60.7%, respectively, while women occupied more jobs in non-profit enterprises at 59.2%.

The average job tenure was 5.3 years. The average age of workers was 46.4 years, up 0.4 years from 46 years a year earlier.

By company size, profit-making enterprises provided 20.12 million jobs (78.7%) of the total, while non-profit enterprises provided 5.46 million jobs (21.3%). Among profit-making enterprises, small-to-medium enterprises provided 15.88 million jobs, accounting for 62.1% of the total. Large enterprises accounted for 4.24 million jobs (16.6%).

By employee size, companies with fewer than 50 employees provided 13.46 million jobs (52.6%), those with 300 or more employees provided 8.3 million jobs (32.4%), and those with 50 to fewer than 300 employees provided 3.82 million jobs (14.9%). By job type, continuous jobs accounted for the highest proportion at 81.6% in companies with 300 or more employees, while new jobs accounted for the highest proportion at 17.5% in companies with fewer than 50 employees.

By industry, manufacturing accounted for the largest share with 4.98 million jobs (19.5%). This was followed by wholesale and retail trade with 3.2 million jobs (12.5%), health and social welfare with 2.41 million jobs (9.4%), and construction with 2.09 million jobs (8.2%). Increases were seen in wholesale and retail trade (170,000), health and social welfare (150,000), information and communication (80,000), professional, scientific, and technical services (70,000), and education (70,000), while accommodation and food services decreased by 10,000 jobs.

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