Jobseekers participate at a hiring event in southern Seoul, in this March 2, 2023, file photo. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The quality of jobs in South Korea is deteriorating as the number of regular positions at major companies remains stagnant, while the number of non-regular jobs is increasing, a corporate tracker said Wednesday.
The Leaders Index analyzed quarterly reports from 334 companies, which are among the top 500 in terms of revenue in the nation.
The report found that the total number of employees across these companies reached 1,335,019 by the end of the first quarter of this year, showing a 2.5 percent increase compared to the previous year.
During the same period, the number of executives grew by 9.9 percent, reaching 11,916. In other words, the number of executives grew four times faster than the number of employees.
When considering employment type, the number of regular workers only increased by a mere 0.2 percent, totaling 1,230,011, whereas the number of non-regular workers surged by 40.6 percent, reaching 105,008.
Examining the industry breakdown, state-run companies experienced the highest growth in the number of non-regular workers, with an explosive year-on-year increase of 798.7 percent, in contrast to a 1.5 percent rise in regular workers.
The shipbuilding, machinery, and equipment sector reported the largest decline in the number of regular workers, witnessing a sharp drop of 11.6 percent.
On the other hand, the service industry registered the highest growth in the number of executives, with a 28.8 percent increase over the past year.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
