The average monthly salary of all wage earners from January to March 2016 was 2.41 million won. However, the average wage difference between temporary and permanent employees was 1.33 million won. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, May 27 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of Korean women in their 50s and 60s who work selective part-time jobs has increased in the past year.
A selective part-time job is a form of a temporary employment that offers the complete benefits typically received by full-time employees, such as insurance and welfare, but gives employees the freedom to choose their working hours.
The government’s policy to encourage selective part-time jobs has helped increase the percentage of selective part-timers within the temporary job market.
According to Statistics Korea, the number of temporary employees increased by 144,000 year-over-year to 6.16 million as of March 2016, while the percentage of temporary employees among all wage earners remained the same at 32 percent.
The number of selective part-time employees who work less than 36 hours has increased by 131,000 in the past year, to 2.22 million. Amongst selective part-timers, however, the number of male employees decreased by 16,000, which was offset by an increase of 147,000 female employees.
An increase in the number of women who want to hold down a job as well as run a household at the same time, and older employees who prefer part-time to full-time are believed to be the leading factors contributing to the increase in the number of selective part-timers.
The 1.35 million workers in their 50s accounted for 22 percent of all temporary employees, followed by workers in their 60s at 21.7 percent, 40s at 20.7 percent, and 20s or 30s at 33.4 percent.
The total number of employees in their 60s and above increased by 147,000 (12.3 percent), compared to 2.2 percent for those in their 50s, and 2.5 percent for those in their 20s. The number of employees in their 30s and 40s, however, decreased by 3.6 and 1.3 percent respectively.
The average monthly salary of all wage earners from January to March 2016 was 2.41 million won. However, the average wage difference between temporary and permanent employees was 1.33 million won.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
