Foreign-invested firms in Korea nearly freeze new hires amid pandemic

Only two out of 10 foreign-invested companies in South Korea hired new employees last year and most cannot set recruitment plans for this and following year due to uncertainties from pandemic.

According to a report released by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), 18.6 percent of 2,500 sample foreign-invested companies surveyed between August and October have either completed hiring, are engaged in the process of hiring or have plans to hire in the future in Korea.

The survey was conducted on the sample companies out of 6,000 companies were foreign capital exceeds 10 percent.

The survey also found that the foreign-invested companies have yet to set hiring plans for this year and next year amid growing uncertainties in the economy due to prolonged Covid-19 outbreaks. The survey showed that 94.4 percent of the companies are uncertain about their hiring plans for this year and 96.8 percent for next year.

Only 162 job spots have been confirmed for this year and 136 for next year, survey showed. The foreign-invested companies cited lack of hiring channels, high wages, and the labor market rigidity as major hurdles in hiring in Korea.

Foreign-invested companies were reluctant to make new hiring even before the Covid-19 outbreak. In 2019, a total 129,942 employees worked for 2,500 foreign-invested companies, up 1,918 from the previous year, suggesting that hiring remained flat for most of these companies in Korea.

The average number of workers per workplace also remained unchanged from 51.2 in 2018 to 52 in 2019.

[¨Ï Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]