Only three out of 10 Korean companies have hiring plans in H2: Survey

Courtesy of Yonhap News

Only three out of 10 large companies in South Korea have finalized their hiring plans for the second half of this year, a survey showed on Tuesday.

According to a survey conducted by job portal Incruit on the country’s 808 companies on their hiring plans in the second half of 2024, 35 percent said that they have finalized their hiring plans. The figure is 43.8 percentage points lower than last year (78.8 percent).

When it comes to mid-size companies, five out of 10 firms said they have finalized hiring plans, down 4 percentage points from a year ago.

The survey shows that the country’s hiring market remains sluggish despite some major firms, such as Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., expanding recruitment in response to a shortfall of talent in the chip sector.

More companies are now focusing on internships rather than hiring full-time workers, the survey showed.

Among the companies with hiring plans, 61.9 percent said they would hire employees on an as-needed basis, down 5.9 percentage points from last year. However, 15.5 percent plan to hire interns, up 7.3 percentage points from a year ago.