Mid-sized R&D Workforce 'Evaporates' by 10,000 in One Year

Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development Report
201,644 Researchers Currently Employed
Contrasts with Increase in Researchers at Large and Mid-sized Companies

The number of research and development (R&D) personnel in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is gradually decreasing.

According to the report "Analysis of Employment Trends in SMEs and Implications" released on the 9th by Research Fellow Noh Min-seon of the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development, the number of researchers employed at SME-affiliated research institutes last year was 201,644, a decrease of 11,387 compared to 213,031 in 2023.

The proportion of SME researchers relative to the total number of researchers is steadily declining. The share of SMEs among all companies peaked at 57.8% in 2017 but fell to 49.4% last year. In contrast, the number of researchers in large enterprises increased from 133,519 in 2022 to 147,281 in 2024, and the number of researchers in mid-sized companies rose from 50,505 to 58,919 during the same period.

The proportion of workers aged 50 and over among SME employees also reached an all-time high. Last year, 48.6% of employees in SMEs with fewer than 300 regular workers were aged 50 or older. This is the highest since Statistics Korea began compiling data by employee size in 2000. Compared to large enterprises (26.4%) and the working-age population (ages 15?64) where the proportion of those aged 50 and over is 36.1%, the SME figure is higher by 22.2 and 12.5 percentage points, respectively.

A survey conducted from the 11th to the 27th of last month targeting 589 SMEs with more than 5 employees and at least 7 years in operation found that 44.4% of SMEs have no plans to hire new employees this year or plan to reduce hiring compared to last year. Specifically, 32.3% responded that they have no hiring plans, and 12.1% said they would reduce hiring. By company size, 50.1% of small enterprises with 5?29 employees and 34.1% of medium enterprises with 30?299 employees reported no new hiring plans or plans to reduce hiring this year compared to last year.

Research Fellow Noh Min-seon proposed key policy tasks including strengthening support for reemployment of non-wage workers as wage workers, providing tailored linkage support for youth at each employment stage, promoting the recruitment of skilled personnel in SMEs, and expanding support for win-win management between large and small-medium enterprises as well as between labor and management in SMEs.

Research Fellow Noh emphasized, "The decline in SME workers is starting with specialized personnel such as those in research and development and is now spreading to the general labor market," adding, "It is necessary to explore efficient utilization methods for youth and elderly workers."