Gumi City Sees Employment Rise for 5 Consecutive Years... Number of Insured Employees Surpasses 110,000

Employment in the Gumi region of North Gyeongsang Province has continued to rise for five consecutive years, demonstrating a stable trend. However, structural changes in employment have also been observed, such as declines in certain manufacturing sectors and an increase in unemployment benefit payments.

According to an analysis of recent employment trends in the Gumi area by the Gumi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, based on employment insurance data from the Korea Employment Information Service, the number of employment insurance subscribers as of December 2025 was tallied at 111,246.

This figure has increased for five straight years since 2020, with an annual average growth rate of 1.3%. Compared to the same month of the previous year (110,872), it also marked a 0.3% increase.

By company size, workplaces with '10 to under 100 employees' recorded 45,868 people, an increase of 1.5%. Companies with '300 or more employees' reached 25,328 people, up 1.1%.

In contrast, the number of employees at companies with 'fewer than 10 employees' fell by 1.9% to 27,923, and those with '100 to under 300 employees' also declined by 0.4% to 12,127.

By industry, manufacturing accounted for 56,806 employees, making up 51.1% of the total, thus remaining the core of regional employment.

This was followed by health and social welfare services (14,717 employees, 13.2%), business facility management·business support and rental services (5,179 employees, 4.7%), and wholesale and retail trade (4,924 employees, 4.4%).

Although manufacturing maintained its central role in terms of share, the absolute scale of employment slightly decreased.

The number of manufacturing employees declined for two consecutive years: from 58,872 in 2023 to 57,477 in 2024 (-2.4%), and to 56,806 in 2025 (-1.2%).

Breaking down by specific sectors, employment in electronic components increased by 1,735 (10.6%) year-on-year to 18,159, showing growth. On the other hand, non-metallic mineral products declined by 1,230 (-33.8%) to 2,409, and other machinery and equipment dropped by 620 (-6.5%) to 8,853.

There was a slight decrease in employment mobility.

The number of newly hired or job-changing workers from January to December 2025 was 47,985, a decrease of 752 (-1.5%) compared to the previous year. The manufacturing sector accounted for the largest portion at 16,273 (33.9%), followed by health and welfare (9,187, 19.1%) and accommodation and food services (3,786, 7.9%).

Trends diverged for unemployment benefits, with a decrease in recipients but an increase in total payments.

The number of recipients dropped by 2.4% year-on-year to 74,450, but the total payment amount rose by 1.0% to 12.5773 trillion won.

In the manufacturing sector, the number of unemployment benefit recipients grew by 0.9% to 28,902, while the payment amount increased by 5.0% to 521.59 billion won.

The most common reasons for unemployment were workforce reductions due to management needs and company downturns at 41.2%, followed by contract expiration or project completion (35.0%), and company-related circumstances (8.6%).

Shim Gyujeong, head of the Economic Research and Corporate Attraction Teams at the Gumi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated, "While the number of employment insurance subscribers in the Gumi area continues to rise, employment in manufacturing has decreased for two consecutive years. Policy support is needed to create new industry jobs suited to the AI era and to resolve job mismatches."

Gumi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building
[Photo by Gumi Chamber of Commerce and Industry]

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