The total number of workers at enterprises with at least one employee rebounded for the first time this year in the past month. Health care and social welfare services, including elderly care, led the increase. However, the number of workers in manufacturing and construction has continued to decline for one to two years.
According to the Sept. enterprise labor force survey results released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) on the 30th, the number of workers at enterprises last month was 20,346,000. That was up 50,000 (2%) from September last year. So far this year, the number of workers at enterprises has continued to fall every month. September was the first month to show year-over-year growth.
However, there were still wide disparities by industry. The rebound in the number of workers at enterprises last month was driven by health care and social welfare services (up 4%). Transportation and warehousing, and professional, scientific and technical services also increased.
By contrast, manufacturing, which has the largest share of workers among all industries, fell by 6,000 (-0.2%), marking a decline for the 24th straight month. Construction also fell by 6,100 (-4.2%). It has declined for 16 straight months. On this, Kim Jae-hoon, head of the Labor Market Survey Division at the Labor Ministry, said, "That said, the decline has eased in construction and manufacturing as well as in wholesale and retail."
The number of hires in September was 969,000, up 4.4% from the same period a year earlier. In particular, regular hiring at enterprises with 300 or more employees rose by 68,000 (18.3%). As of September, it was the largest increase in both headcount and growth rate in six years since 2019 (up 31,000; 58.9%). It is analyzed as being influenced by Lee Jae-myung, the president, asking to increase new jobs for young people, which led major conglomerates to expand hiring. Meanwhile, the number of separations fell 3.4%.
The number of vacancies was 149,000, down 19.2% from a year earlier. Vacancies refer to jobs that are currently recruiting and can start within a month. They have been on a downward trend since February last year.
As of August, nominal wages per worker at enterprises with at least one regular employee were 3,937,000 won, up 67,000 won (1.7%) from a year earlier. Real wages, reflecting consumer prices, were 3,381,000 won, up 2,000 won (0.1%) from the same month last year.
In August, working hours per worker were 150.5 hours, down 5.2 hours (3.3%) from the same month a year earlier. That was due to one fewer working day than last year.