Statistics Korea Announces Supplementary Survey Results on Economic Activities by Employment Type on the 24th
The proportion and scale of non-regular workers among all wage workers both showed a slight decrease. The proportion of workers choosing to work as non-regular employees voluntarily also slightly increased compared to the previous year. Working conditions, as indicated by average length of service and social insurance enrollment rates, generally improved.
According to the "Supplementary Survey Results by Employment Type" released by Statistics Korea on the 24th, the number of non-regular workers was 8.122 million, a decrease of 34,000 compared to the same month last year. The proportion of non-regular workers among wage workers also fell by 0.5 percentage points to 37.0%. A Ministry of Economy and Finance official explained, "The scale of non-regular workers peaked at 38.4% in 2021 and has been steadily decreasing since then," adding, "This is the first time that both the scale and proportion have decreased." The number of regular workers increased by 264,000 to 13.832 million compared to the same month last year.
Working conditions for non-regular workers also generally improved. Compared to the same month last year, the proportion of workers who chose their employment type voluntarily and worked as non-regular employees rose by 2.8 percentage points to 65.6%. Notably, the proportion who responded that they were "satisfied with working conditions" was the highest at 59.9%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the same period last year. The government views the proportion of voluntary choice as one of the indicators reflecting the quality of non-regular jobs.
Compared to last year, the length of service and wages for non-regular jobs also improved. The average length of service at one workplace was 2 years and 8 months (32 months), an increase of 2 months. The average monthly wage over the recent three months (June to August) was 1,957,000 KRW, up by 76,000 KRW. Excluding part-time workers, it was 2,761,000 KRW, an increase of 151,000 KRW. The average weekly working hours decreased by 0.9 hours to 28.7 hours.
By employment type, temporary workers numbered 5.259 million, part-time workers 3.873 million, and atypical workers 1.957 million. Compared to the same month last year, temporary workers decreased by 89,000 and atypical workers by 174,000, while part-time workers increased by 186,000. The increase in part-time workers was driven by more than 90% increase in female part-time jobs, influenced by rising demand for caregiving and expanded female economic participation.
The average monthly wage of all wage workers exceeded 3 million KRW for the first time since related statistics were compiled, reaching 3,007,000 KRW. However, the wage gap between regular and non-regular workers was the largest ever recorded. The average monthly wage for regular workers over the recent three months was 3,623,000 KRW, while for non-regular workers it was 1,957,000 KRW, showing a gap of 1,666,000 KRW. The government explained that since non-regular statistics uniformly include part-time jobs paid hourly wages, the wage gap between non-regular and regular workers excluding part-time jobs should be considered. The Ministry of Economy and Finance reported that the wage gap ratio between non-regular and regular workers excluding part-time jobs was 72.9% in 2021, 75% in 2022, and 76.2% in 2023, showing a continuous decrease.
The age group with the largest proportion among non-regular workers was those in their 60s. Workers aged 60 and over numbered 2.619 million, followed by those in their 50s at 1.627 million, and those in their 20s at 1.423 million. The number of workers aged 60 and over increased by 66,000 compared to the same month last year. In contrast, workers in their 50s decreased by 98,000 and those in their 40s by 13,000. By gender, males numbered 3.557 million (43.8%), a decrease of 96,000 compared to the same month last year, while females numbered 4.565 million (56.2%), an increase of 62,000.
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