Domestic corporations are expected to reduce the number of planned hires from October this year to March next year compared to last year. This marks a decline for four consecutive half-year periods starting from the first half of last year.
According to the results of the '2024 second half workforce survey by job category' announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 30th, enterprises with more than one employee in the country plan to hire a total of 527,000 people from October this year to March next year. This is a decrease of 33,000 (5.9%) compared to the same period last year.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor conducts a workforce survey by job category twice a year, dividing the second and third quarters (April-September) as the first half and the fourth quarter and the first quarter of the following year (October-March) as the second half.
According to the survey results released on this day, the number of hiring plans for domestic enterprises is expected to decrease for four consecutive half-years. The hiring plans for corporations in the second and third quarters of last year were 571,000, a decrease of 86,000 compared to the same period in the previous year. Following this, from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year, the number decreased by 85,000 to 560,000, and in the second and third quarters of this year, it was reduced by 46,000 to 525,000.
In this second-half survey, recruitment plans by industry show that the manufacturing sector had the highest number at 115,000. It was followed by healthcare and social welfare services (65,000), wholesale and retail trade (62,000), accommodation and food service (53,000), and transportation and warehousing (44,000).
By job category, the management, administration, and office positions had the largest hiring plan at 72,000. This was followed by sales positions (56,000); food and service jobs (52,000); driving and transportation jobs (47,000); and machinery installation jobs (28,000).
By enterprise size, hiring plans for enterprises with fewer than 300 employees amounted to 478,000, a decrease of 32,000 (6.2%) from the same period last year. For enterprises with 300 or more employees, the number was 50,000, a decrease of 1,000 (2.1%).
Meanwhile, in the third quarter of this year, the number of unfilled positions for enterprises with more than one employee was 122,000. Manufacturing had the highest number at 32,000, followed by transportation and warehousing (20,000), healthcare and social welfare services (14,000), and wholesale and retail trade (12,000).
Corporations cited reasons for unfilled positions, including "lack of applicants with the required experience" (23.8%) and "working conditions, such as wage levels, not meeting the expectations of job seekers" (23.2%).