Labor ministry reports 5.92 million workers at large disclosing firms

The labor ministry said Tuesday that companies with 300 or more employees reported 5.92 million workers this year, up 91,000 from a year earlier, as the number of regularly employed staff rose and subcontracted workers declined.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor released the results of this year's employment status disclosures, which cover 4,205 companies that filed on their workforces as of March 31, a disclosure rate of 99.9 percent and 29 more companies than a year earlier.

Directly employed workers accounted for 4.98 million of the total, up 107,000, giving them 84.2 percent of all disclosed workers, a gain of 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier. Subcontracted workers fell by 16,000 to 936,000, or 15.8 percent of the total.

Among directly employed workers, those on indefinite contracts numbered 3.57 million, or 71.7 percent, while fixed-term workers rose to 1.41 million, or 28.3 percent, up 67,000. Full-time staff totaled 4.53 million, or 90.9 percent, while part-time workers climbed to 450,000, or 9.0 percent.

The ministry attributed the increase in fixed-term and part-time workers mainly to job growth in health, welfare and social services driven partly by an aging population, and said some companies were also rehiring workers who had reached retirement age on fixed-term or part-time terms.

The decline in subcontracted workers reflected a 16,000 drop in construction, which outweighed a 6,000 increase in manufacturing. By industry, disclosed workers grew mainly in health and welfare, up 44,000, and in transportation and warehousing, up 16,000, while construction shed 9,000.

"It is positive that the number and share of directly employed workers at disclosing companies increased," Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said. "The government will support companies' voluntary efforts to improve employment while doing its utmost to ensure workers do not face unreasonable discrimination based on their employment type."