South Korea’s day laborers hit hard by construction slump

Namguro Station sees sharp drop in construction jobs amid market freeze

In the early hours of Apr. 30, day laborers crowded the sidewalk outside Seoul’s Namguro Station, home to the largest construction labor market in the greater capital area. /Kim Myung-il

“There’s just no work these days. I’ve been coming here for about nine years, but I’ve never seen it this bad,” said a day laborer, shivering in the early morning cold at Namguro Station in Seoul.

At around 3:40 a.m. on Apr. 30, workers began arriving at the Namguro Station labor market, clutching vending machine coffee cups or smoking quietly as they waited. The market typically opens at 4 a.m., but many show up earlier, hoping to secure a job before the limited spots are taken.

Kim, a 54-year-old ethnic Korean from China who lives in Daerim-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, said he was seeking carpentry work but hadn’t been able to land a job all week. “I’ve got rent, gas, electricity bills to pay,” he said with a sigh. “But with no work, I really don’t know what to do.”

By 4:20 a.m., vans began pulling up to pick up one or two workers at a time and transport them to construction sites across Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. Even after 5 a.m., an estimated 300 to 400 workers remained at the Namguro intersection, still waiting for a call that never came.

As South Korea’s construction industry faces a steep downturn, Namguro Station—long considered the largest day labor market in the greater Seoul area—has been gripped by a deepening employment crisis. According to Statistics Korea, the number of construction jobs fell to 1,932,000 in March, down 8.7% from the same month last year—the sharpest decline on record.

Established in the 1970s as a meeting point for construction day laborers, the Namguro market once drew as many as 2,000 to 3,000 workers daily at its peak. But with demand drying up, daily attendance has plummeted to just a few hundred in recent months.

Workers say the shrinking pool of jobs has not only made it harder to find work but also driven down wages. “Carpenters used to earn between 180,000 and 200,000 won a day,” said Choi, a 66-year-old resident of Guro District. “Now there’s too much competition and too little work. It’s dropped to 150,000 won.”

Choi said it’s now common for him to work fewer than 10 days a month. “I’ve been doing this for over 20 years,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The fierce competition has even led to physical confrontations. On Apr. 17, one man was seen grabbing another’s backpack strap to keep him from boarding a van. “I said I’d take the job for 150,000 won, and then someone behind me said he’d do it for 100,000,” Choi said. “Back when I used to get 20 days of work a month, there was no reason to fight. But things are just too desperate now.”

In the early morning of Apr. 30, day laborers filled the sidewalk outside Seoul’s Namguro Station, where the capital region’s largest construction labor market comes to life. /Kim Myung-il

Resentment toward foreign laborers—particularly those without legal status—is rising as construction jobs continue to dry up across South Korea.

“It was actually better during COVID,” said Park, 55, a resident of Seoul’s Garibong-dong neighborhood. “Back then, hardly any foreigners could come into the country, so competition wasn’t nearly as intense.” He added, “Now, undocumented workers are willing to work for far less, and that leaves legal workers like us with nothing. The people who are doing things the right way are the ones suffering.”

Kim, a 54-year-old ethnic Korean from China, expressed similar frustration. “They take all the jobs for lower pay,” he said. “Even though we’re all Chinese, I’m here legally and I pay taxes—they don’t.”

Kim, 62, who has been doing general labor since retiring four years ago and now lives in Guro 4-dong, said he hasn’t worked once this week, even though daily wages have dropped to just 100,000 won. “Things are so bad now that even some of the Chinese workers who came here to find jobs are heading back home,” he said. “Two I know went back recently.”

A job placement official near Namguro Station confirmed the slowdown. “Last year, we were sending out about 1,000 workers a day. Now it’s down to around 400,” the official said. “Most of them go to apartment construction sites, but with unsold units piling up, those projects are drying up too.”