Number of Employed Workers Rose by 816,000 in 2022, Biggest Leap in 22 Years

Job openings are posted on a bulletin board at the Seoul Western Employment Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul on December 14.

Statistics Korea released the employment status in December 2022 along with the annual employment figures for the past year on January 11. According to the latest statistics, the number of people employed last year rose by 816,000 from the previous year, the biggest increase since 2000 (882,000). This was the third time since the government began collecting related figures that the annual number of newly employed positions exceeded 800,000.

The government believes the latest figures reflect a “reopening” effect, after economic activities resumed following the lifting of distancing measures in response to COVID-19 this year. Kong Mi-sook, director of social statistics at Statistics Korea said, “We witnessed a high increase in the number of employed positions thanks to rising activities and demand in exports and care following our return to everyday life in 2022.”

However, the rise in the number of employed positions has been slowing down since the second half of last year, and Statistics Korea expected it to continue slowing down this year. The monthly number of employed positions last month increased by 509,000 year-over-year, and the growth decreased for the seventh consecutive month since June 2022. Kong said, “Due to the domestic and global economic situation and base effects, the increase in the number of employed positions slowed down in the second half.”