South Korea's non-regular workforce reaches record 38.5% of wage earners
In August, non-regular employees made up 38.5% of South Korea’s wage earners, the highest share recorded since 2003, and their pay gap with regular workers widened.
According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, non-regular workers comprised 38.5% of South Korea’s wage earners in August, the highest proportion since the survey began in 2003. Their total number rose to 8.67 million, with 3.7 million men and 4.96 million women, and they were most concentrated in health and social welfare (21.5%) and accommodation and food services (9.9%). Average weekly hours for non-regulars increased to 29.5, while regular employees worked 40.4 hours.
Monthly pay for non-regulars reached 2.11 million won, versus 4.05 million won for regulars, widening the wage gap to 1.94 million won. Their average tenure grew to three years. Coverage of the national pension dropped to 36.5% and public health insurance to 53%, compared with 88.6% and 95.7% for regular workers. OECD data show South Korea’s temporary-worker share at 27.5%, far above Britain and Japan.
Why it matters
The rising share and widening pay gap of non-regular workers highlight growing labor market inequality in South Korea.
In this story
