No. of irregular workers down by 34,000 in 2023

[Photo by Yonhap]

The number of irregular workers has dropped sharply this year under President Yoon Suk Yeol as compared with the previous administration that saw the figure surge by more than 1.48 million between 2017 and 2021.

According to data from Statistics Korea on Tuesday, the number of non-regular workers stood at 8.12 million as of August this year, down 34,000 from the same month a year ago.

The workers accounted for 37 percent of the entire wage earners, down 0.5 percentage point from 37.5 percent last year.

“The number of non-regular workers increased by 1.49 million from 2017 to 2021, but last year the proportion of non-regular workers declined, and this year both the number and proportion fell,” said Park Sung-gwol, head of the labor market economy division at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Among the non-regular workers, the number of temporary workers that include fixed-term workers and that of non-standard workers including daily workers fell significantly.

However, the number of part-time workers who work 36 hours a week surged by 186,000 from a year earlier.

Women accounted for more than 90 percent of the increase in part-time workers.

“The rise comes as demand for caregiving increases and more women join the labor market,” Park said.

Changes in the perception of a good job, especially among those in their 20s and 30s, may also have had an impact. In recent years, there has been a growing demand among young people to work only when they want to and use the remainder of their time for personal activities.

The Statistics Korea survey found that 59.8 percent of part-time workers voluntarily chose to work part-time, up 4.2 percentage points from 55.6 percent last year, the highest level since the survey began.