6 out of 10 Small and Medium Enterprises Plan to Hire an Average of 4.8 Employees in the Second Half of the Year

Survey of 815 Small and Medium Enterprises... Manufacturing Accounts for 63.4%, the Highest Share

Jungso Company Central Association building. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] More than half of the excellent small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) listed on the 'Cham Ggwaenchanheun Jungso Gieop' (Really Good SMEs) platform have plans to hire new personnel in the second half of the year.

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 11th that, according to a recruitment trend survey conducted from the 22nd to the 26th of last month targeting 815 companies on the 'Cham Ggwaenchanheun Jungso Gieop' platform, 60.1% responded that they have hiring plans for the second half of 2021.

The 'Cham Ggwaenchanheun Jungso Gieop' platform is a service where excellent company job information can be found on the website and app. A total of 30,000 companies were selected and registered based on six criteria among companies certified by the government or local governments or those with excellent financial performance: ▲Credit rating BB- or higher ▲Operating profit generated in the last two years ▲Average turnover rate below 20% in the last three months ▲No arrears, delinquency, accidents, or sex crimes in the last three years, among others.

By industry, manufacturing accounted for the highest at 63.4%. Service industries accounted for 42.7%, and other industries 52.7%. The average number of planned hires was 4.8 people.

Among the responding companies, 46.5% hired fewer personnel than needed last year, and the proportion of hires was about 86.8% of the required personnel, confirming difficulties in manpower supply and demand.

Companies that could not hire personnel in a timely manner cited reasons such as ‘lack of applicants meeting the conditions (49.8%)’ and ‘lack of applicants (insufficient recruitment promotion) (44.0%)’. They especially expressed difficulties in hiring job-fit candidates and in corporate promotion.

Companies showed a preference for hiring 'experienced workers' (31.8%) during recruitment. This was followed by 'local talent new graduates' (11.0%), 'new graduates with at least an associate degree' (10.0%), and 'new graduates from specialized high schools' (6.5%).

It was confirmed that 72.6% of companies have used government support programs. Among the programs used (multiple responses allowed), the 'Youth Tomorrow Filling Deduction' (Cheongnyeon Naeil Chaeum Gongje) was overwhelmingly the most common at 82.3%. This was followed by 'Job Stability Fund' (35.6%), 'Youth Additional Employment Incentive' (35.5%), and 'Middle-aged and Elderly Employment Incentive' (12.3%).

Baek Dongwook, Head of the Youth Hope Job Department at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, “It is necessary to supplement job matching by expanding recruitment conditions and company/job introductions for SMEs,” adding, “We will strive to revitalize the frozen youth job market by linking excellent companies in need of personnel with young people looking for good jobs through the advancement of the Cham Ggwaenchanheun Jungso Gieop platform.”

Meanwhile, this survey will be discussed in more detail at the 'Online SME Recruitment Fair' to be held on the 12th of next month at the KBIZ Hall of the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul. The fair will include job connections for about 100 excellent SMEs through the 'Cham Ggwaenchanheun Jungso Gieop' platform, as well as on-site presentations of opinions from CEOs and young job seekers.