Last Year Q3 Wage Workers Increased by 597,000... Half Are Senior Jobs

In the third quarter of this year, wage and salary jobs increased by approximately 600,000. The rate of job growth slowed compared to the second quarter, and half of the newly created jobs were for seniors aged 60 and over.

According to the "2022 Third Quarter Wage and Salary Job Trends" released by Statistics Korea on the 24th, the number of wage and salary jobs in the third quarter of this year (as of August) was 20,195,000, an increase of 597,000 compared to a year earlier. The increase compared to the same period last year was somewhat slower than the previous second quarter (628,000).

By age group, jobs for seniors aged 60 and over increased by 312,000, showing the largest growth. More than half (52.2%) of the total job increase was accounted for by senior jobs. Including those in their 50s (188,000), 8 out of 10 (83.7%) of the jobs added in the second quarter went to middle-aged and older adults aged 50 and above.

Jobs increased across other age groups as well, but youth jobs for those in their 30s (27,000) and under 20s (6,000) showed relatively modest growth. Jobs for those in their 40s increased by 64,000 during the same period.

By industry, jobs mainly increased in health and social welfare (102,000), construction (99,000), and manufacturing (74,000). Manufacturing, which has the largest share of jobs, saw increases in electronics and telecommunications (20,000) and machinery equipment (12,000), but decreases in textile products (-2,000) and machinery equipment repair (-2,000).

In health and social welfare, jobs for those aged 60 and over increased significantly by 79,000. This was followed by construction (48,000) and manufacturing (48,000). On the other hand, for those under 20, jobs increased in accommodation and food services (26,000), information and communications (21,000), and construction (10,000).

By gender, jobs increased by 258,000 for men and 339,000 for women. The share of total jobs was 56.9% for men and 43.1% for women. Male jobs mainly increased in construction (67,000) and manufacturing (47,000), while female jobs increased in health and social welfare (83,000), accommodation and food services (40,000), and construction (32,000).

Among all jobs, 69.3% were sustained jobs held by the same workers as a year ago, while newly hired jobs accounted for 30.7%. For those aged 30 to 50, sustained jobs accounted for more than 74%, whereas for those under 20, newly hired jobs accounted for 51.8%.

Among newly hired jobs, 17.0% (3,425,000) were replacements for workers who retired or changed jobs, and 13.8% (2,781,000) were new jobs created by company formation or business expansion. Additionally, 2,184,000 jobs were lost due to company closures or business downsizing.

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