Shortage of 30,000 Skilled Workers in 12 Major Industries Including Joseon and Semiconductors

[Image source=Yonhap News]

It has been found that the shortage of skilled workers in Korea's 12 major key industries is approaching 30,000. On the 28th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the results of the '2023 Industrial Technology Workforce Supply and Demand Survey' containing this information. Industrial technology workforce refers to those with a high school diploma or higher who work in businesses as researchers, technical staff, production workers, production managers, executives, and so on.

At the end of 2022, Korea's industrial technology workforce totaled 1,699,674, an increase of 1.1% compared to the previous year. The number of workers lacking compared to business demand was 38,476. The shortage rate remained at 2.2%, maintaining the same level for five years.

The industrial technology workforce in the 12 major key industries including semiconductors, displays, bio-health, automobiles, shipbuilding, steel, chemicals, IT, and software was 1,128,489, an increase of 1.2% (12,963 people) compared to the previous year, continuing the growth trend for two consecutive years. Five sectors including semiconductors, bio-health, IT business, and software have seen workforce growth for five consecutive years.

However, as of the end of 2022, the shipbuilding industrial technology workforce was 58,042, a 0.3% decrease from the previous year, continuing a decline for five consecutive years. The industrial technology workforce in the textile (-0.8%) and display (-0.1%) sectors also slightly decreased last year.

The shortage of skilled workers in the 12 major key industries was 29,783, an increase of 3.7% (1,074 people) compared to the previous year. The shortage rate was 2.6%, higher than the overall industrial technology workforce shortage rate. This survey was conducted from July to October targeting about 21,000 sample businesses out of approximately 117,000 workplaces nationwide with 10 or more employees.

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