Recovery Trend in the Food Service Employment Market... Increase in Non-Regular Workers Remains a Challenge

1.1 Million Food Service Workers Last Year... 8% Increase Compared to Previous Year
Higher Proportion of Non-Regular Workers than Regular Workers Due to Labor Cost Burdens

The employment market in the food service industry, which hit rock bottom due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has gradually recovered, returning to pre-pandemic levels last year. However, it is noted as a challenge that employment growth is centered more on temporary and daily workers rather than regular employees due to factors such as employment burden and profitability.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 26th, the number of workers in domestic restaurants and pubs last year was 1,102,000, an 8% increase compared to the previous year (1,021,000). The number of food service workers, which was around 1.18 million in 2019, began to decline in 2020 as food service businesses shortened operating hours or increased closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping to 910,000 in the first quarter of 2021. Since then, with the transition to an endemic, the number recovered to around 1 million in the second quarter of 2022 and last year surpassed 1.1 million, returning to the previous level after four years.

In 2020, the number of people leaving jobs in restaurants and pubs was the only year when it exceeded the number of new hires due to COVID-19. However, since 2021, the number of new hires has again surpassed the number of those leaving, and this trend has continued through last year. Last year, the number of new hires was 117,000 and the number of those leaving was 116,000, both higher than 113,000 and 106,000 in 2018, respectively.

However, the recent increase in the number of food service workers is due to a rise in temporary and daily workers rather than regular employees. Last year, the proportion of regular employees among food service workers was 63.4%, showing a continuous decline since it was 68.8% in 2020. On the other hand, the proportion of temporary and daily workers increased from 31.2% in 2020 to 36.6% last year. This is believed to be because employment of temporary and daily workers has increased due to employment burdens and profitability factors related to regular positions.

Along with the number of food service workers, wages are also rising. The annual average wage per establishment for restaurant workers increased from 30 million KRW in 2021 to 33 million KRW in 2022, and for pubs and non-alcoholic beverage establishments, it rose from 15 million KRW to 17 million KRW. However, the wage gap between regular employees and temporary and daily workers has widened. The annual average wage for regular restaurant workers was 26 million KRW, generally increasing compared to the previous year despite differences by sector, but wages for temporary and daily workers generally decreased, averaging 13 million KRW, about half that of regular employees.

The annual average wage per establishment for restaurant workers varies significantly by sector. Korean restaurants and other simple food establishments had an average annual wage of 27 million KRW, while catering and mobile food services earned 38 million KRW, foreign cuisine restaurants 52 million KRW, and institutional cafeterias 150 million KRW. By sector, the annual wage for regular employees in institutional cafeterias was the highest at 29 million KRW, and the lowest was 23 million KRW for regular employees in other simple food establishments. Among temporary and daily workers, those in institutional cafeterias had the highest annual wage per establishment (15 million KRW), while those in other simple food establishments had the lowest (11 million KRW).

Although employment levels in food service businesses have recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels, concerns have been raised that competition for hiring personnel may intensify under the current situation where wage increases and the difference between new hires and those leaving are minimal. Seongjin Park, a research fellow at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, suggested, "Since the adoption rate of unmanned ordering and payment systems in the food service industry is still low, to overcome employment difficulties and improve productivity, it is necessary to quickly adapt to the introduction and utilization of food tech technologies, and continuous policy support related to this should be provided."

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