An aging population is reshaping the labor market. As jobs for older adults and care-related positions grow significantly, jobs paying less than 1 million won are also increasing.
According to the "regional employment survey for the first half of 2025" that the National Data Agency released on the 28th, employment in nonresidential social welfare facility operations in the first half rose by 135,000 from the first half of last year to 1,688,000, the largest increase among detailed industry categories.
Nonresidential social welfare facility operations is a welfare service industry in which users do not reside in the facilities, and it encompasses not only childcare facilities such as day care centers and playrooms but also home-visit care, care for older adults living alone, operation of free meal centers, and jobs for older adults.
An official at the National Data Agency said, "There was little change among workers in childcare facilities, but increases in workers in home-visit welfare services, comprehensive welfare centers, and jobs for older adults led to more workers in nonresidential social welfare facility operations."
Industry changes in employment by age group back this up. Among those 15 to 29, employment in warehousing and storage rose by 8,000, and among those 30 to 49, software development and supply increased by 26,000. Among those 50 and older, nonresidential social welfare facility operations alone grew by 118,000, the most notable rise.
A similar trend appeared in detailed occupational categories. In the first half of this year, the largest occupations by number of employed were retail sales workers (1,539,000, 5.3%), cleaning-related workers (1,272,000, 4.4%), and crop cultivators (1,205,000, 4.2%), in that order.
Cleaning-related workers increased by 46,000 from the first half of the previous year, and nursing care workers and caregivers rose by 43,000. During the same period, crop cultivators fell by 98,000, and simple laborers in construction and mining decreased by 57,000.
An official at the National Data Agency said, "Some jobs for older adults involve cleaning, which appears to have contributed to the increase in the number of cleaning-related workers."
An increase in caring for older adults and in jobs for older adults is also contributing to the expansion of low-wage jobs paying less than 1 million won. Among wage workers by major industry category, the share earning less than 1 million won per month was 9.6% in the first half of this year, up 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier.