Menial laborers in Korea suffer largest job loss in 5 years

While South Korea’s job growth improved in November, jobs for some of the most socially vulnerable groups fell by the fastest pace in five years.

According to a report by Statistics Korea on Sunday, the number of those employed in menial jobs such as food delivery totaled 3,589,000 in November, down 101,000 from the same period a year earlier. This was the largest fall since the government started compiling such data in 2013.

Menial work refers to routine, low-skilled often physically demanding tasks that include jobs like delivery drivers, cleaners, janitors and parking lot attendants.

“Menial workers tend to be more vulnerable to economic risks,” said a Statistics Korea official. “Their jobs are hit particularly hard in an overall tough labor market.”

More irregular, uneducated workers were also out of work.

The number of temporary employees fell by 116,000 in November from the year-ago period. While college graduates saw on-year job gains of 478,000, those with just a high school or middle school diploma saw job losses of 216,000 and 98,000, respectively.

Critics have largely blamed the government’s steep increases in the minimum wage for the dismal employment figures. This year, Korea raised the minimum hourly wages by 16.4 percent to 7,530 won ($6.64), the biggest hike in nearly two decades. It is set to raise them by another 10.9 percent to 8,350 won next year.

Meanwhile, the country’s job numbers in November improved by the largest margin since January, up 165,000 from the same month last year, thanks largely to government-led public hires. While jobs were added by more than 100,000 for the first time in five months, the number of unemployed workers stretched to 909,000, the largest since the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1999.

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