"Freelance Broadcaster Wages at 24.7% of Full-Time Employees... 7 out of 10 Are Women"

Survey on Non-Regular and Freelancer Status in Public Sector Broadcasters
Activation of Freelancer Utilization in Broadcasting Industry... 71.2% Female
Reporters, Casters, Sign Language Interpreters Have Relatively Low Wage Levels
"Labor Environment Improvement Needed, Including Standard Freelancer Contracts"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] It has been revealed that half of the freelancers working in domestic public sector broadcasting companies receive wages below the minimum wage. Freelancer wages were only about one-third of those of regular employees.

The Korea Labor and Social Research Institute recently released the results of a survey targeting 50 public sector broadcasting companies, including terrestrial and non-terrestrial broadcasters such as KBS, MBC, EBS, and KTV, in its report titled "The Status of Non-Regular Workers and Freelancers in Broadcasting Companies."

The total workforce of domestic public sector broadcasting companies is 15,227, of which 2,891 (18.9%) are non-regular workers. Among the non-regular workers, 665 (4.3%) are fixed-term employees, and 2,215 (14.5%) are indirectly employed non-regular workers.

Non-regular workers in broadcasting companies were found to be much higher in terrestrial broadcasters (2,826, 19.9%) compared to non-terrestrial broadcasters (65, 0.6%).

In some public sector broadcasting companies, the use of non-regular workers exceeded one-third of the total workforce. Broadcasting company D (40.7%) and 16 regional MBC stations (30.9%) employed about 3 to 4 out of every 10 employees as non-regular workers.

Excluding institutions that did not submit data (KBS Seoul and regional, MBC Seoul), the number of freelancers in public sector broadcasting companies was approximately 2,659, accounting for 15.9% of the total. Most freelancers in broadcasting companies are writers, announcers, reporters, and casters.

The proportion of freelancers was higher in non-terrestrial broadcasters (36.4%, 440) than in terrestrial broadcasters (14.3%, 2,219). However, it should be noted that the largest terrestrial broadcasters, KBS and MBC, were excluded.

When regular employee wages in public sector broadcasting companies are set at 100, non-regular workers (35) and freelancers (24.7) earned about one-third of that amount. The average monthly income of regional terrestrial freelancers was only 1,803,000 KRW.

The institute stated, "More than half of the wages for broadcasting company freelancers are below the minimum wage," and added, "There are 16 job categories where only women are employed as freelancers, confirming gender occupational segregation."

Freelancer jobs with higher pay included lighting (3.55 million KRW), announcers (2.96 million KRW), and counseling guidance (2.8 million KRW), while lower-paid jobs included reporters (980,000 KRW), casters (1.2 million KRW), and sign language interpreters (1.22 million KRW).

Seven out of ten freelancers were women (71.2%). Among the 16 regional MBC stations, 10 had female freelancers accounting for more than 70%. Writers made up the largest portion of all freelancers at 34.2% (910 people).

There were also three broadcasting companies where freelancers accounted for more than two-thirds of the total workforce. Broadcasting company C (65.2%, 178), company H (68.4%, 26), and company O (77%, 57) employed about 7 out of every 10 employees as freelancers.

The institute emphasized, "It is necessary to prepare measures to improve the employment structure and labor environment in the broadcasting industry from the perspective of 'gender equality,' focusing not just on simple treatment improvements but on addressing gender-discriminatory employment structures and income redistribution within organizations."

It added, "Even in public sector broadcasting companies, only about half use government standard contracts," and advised, "It is necessary to refer to examples such as the UK BBC, which concludes freelancer standard contracts online, and the Canadian CBC, which pays contract termination allowances when programs end early."