labor market Archives | Be Korea-savvy
Employment Conundrum Looms Large in S. Korea with Aging Population

Employment Conundrum Looms Large in S. Korea with Aging Population

SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea on Wednesday floated the idea of dictating that companies continue to employ workers beyond the current retirement age of 60, a move that could have far-reaching implications on Asia’s fourth-largest economy. The move came amid growing need for older people to stay in the labor market longer [...]

S. Korea’s Average Workweek Dips to 41.5 Hours, Still High Among OECD Countries

S. Korea’s Average Workweek Dips to 41.5 Hours, Still High Among OECD Countries

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans put in an average of 1.3 fewer hours at their jobs in 2018, but the country still had one of the longest workweeks among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members, official data showed Sunday. According to the Statistics Korea, South Korean employees worked 41.5 hours [...]

Middle-age People Suffer Sharp Drop in Employment Rate

Middle-age People Suffer Sharp Drop in Employment Rate

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans in their forties and fifties were hit hardest by the tougher job market last year stemming from protracted corporate restructuring and an economic downturn, government data showed Sunday. The country’s employment rate — the portion of hired people to the working-age population — reached 60.7 percent in [...]

Wage Gap Between Large, Small Firms Widens to 1.7 Fold in 2014: Report

Wage Gap Between Large, Small Firms Widens to 1.7 Fold in 2014: Report

SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — The wage gap between workers in large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) widened in 2014 amid a deepening polarization of the labor market, a report said Monday. According to the report published by the Bank of Korea (BOK), large businesses — those with 300 or more workers [...]

Increase in Permanent Workers Drives Up Productivity: Report

Increase in Permanent Workers Drives Up Productivity: Report

SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — An increase in the percentage of full-time workers drives up labor productivity to some extent, a report said Monday. “Under the same conditions of labor costs, a 1 percentage point increase in permanent workers and a 1 percentage point decrease in temporary workers will bring about a 0.23-0.56 percentage [...]

S. Korea’s Public Jobs Account for 8.9 Pct of Labor Market in 2016

S. Korea’s Public Jobs Account for 8.9 Pct of Labor Market in 2016

SEJONG, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Jobs offered by government agencies and state-funded corporations accounted for less than 10 percent of the country’s labor market in 2016, government data showed Tuesday, amid President Moon Jae-in’s call for expanding public employment. A total of 2.36 million people were employed in 2016 by the public sector, including [...]

S. Korea’s Employment Growth Stalls amid Weak Economy

S. Korea’s Employment Growth Stalls amid Weak Economy

SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s job market recovery stalled in the first quarter of this year amid weak economic growth despite improvements in other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), data showed Tuesday.  South Korea’s employment rate for people aged 15-65 stood at 65.9 percent for the January-March [...]