Unsustainable hiring could worsen job quality, analysts say
By Park Hyong-ki
The number of jobs created in November climbed back up to above 100,000 for the first time in five months, according to Statistics Korea, Wednesday.
It stood at 165,000, the biggest increase this year, mostly due to the ongoing hiring of temporary workers and interns by state-run enterprises. In 2017, the average number of jobs created per month was 300,000.
However, the unemployment rate reached a nine-year high of 3.2 percent.
In October, the government unveiled its "short-term" plan to push state-run enterprises to recruit 59,000 temporary workers by the end of 2018.
And if possible, they will seek to turn some of them into regular workers.
This comes amid a series of "shocking" numbers in employment since July when the number of new jobs stood at 5,000 year-on-year.
The monthly job creation was driven by the state-hiring plan that is currently being implemented by regional administration offices and companies providing social services.
The statistics agency noted it could not tell for sure how many jobs in November were driven by the government's policy.
However, analysts say the market saw a "one-off, unsustainable" rebound that month, fearing the short-term plan could worsen the quality of jobs.
"The private sector did not lead the job creation," said Yun Chang-hyun, an economist at the University of Seoul.
"The plan backed by increasing taxes to boost jobs in the short term is to artificially make the numbers higher. It is window dressing. And this suggests it has committed statistical fraud."
The number of jobs in manufacturing decreased 91,000 in November, from a year earlier. The private sector had to let go that many workers mostly due to cost cutting amid a slowdown, according to the statistics agency.
Corporate investment for plant expansion is expected to decrease 4.4 percent in 2018, from 2017. And it will further drop 6.3 percent in 2019, indicating a dim outlook for the private sector, according to research by the Korea Development Bank.
In contrast, companies in social and healthcare services backed by the government's welfare policies created 164,000 jobs.
The number of unemployed reached 909,000, the highest in 19 years.
However, the unemployment rate has been dropping on a monthly basis for demographic reasons.
The young population entering the workforce is shrinking, while the elderly population looking for jobs is growing.
The number of the elderly employed in November reached 194,000, the highest this year.
Also, the shrinking number of young people has in part lowered youth unemployment rate to 7.9 percent. In November 2017, it was 9.2 percent.
The decreased rate was also due to 111,000 people in their late 20s being employed in the tech sector, the statistics office said.
By Park Hyong-ki
 |
It stood at 165,000, the biggest increase this year, mostly due to the ongoing hiring of temporary workers and interns by state-run enterprises. In 2017, the average number of jobs created per month was 300,000.
However, the unemployment rate reached a nine-year high of 3.2 percent.
In October, the government unveiled its "short-term" plan to push state-run enterprises to recruit 59,000 temporary workers by the end of 2018.
And if possible, they will seek to turn some of them into regular workers.
This comes amid a series of "shocking" numbers in employment since July when the number of new jobs stood at 5,000 year-on-year.
The monthly job creation was driven by the state-hiring plan that is currently being implemented by regional administration offices and companies providing social services.
The statistics agency noted it could not tell for sure how many jobs in November were driven by the government's policy.
However, analysts say the market saw a "one-off, unsustainable" rebound that month, fearing the short-term plan could worsen the quality of jobs.
"The private sector did not lead the job creation," said Yun Chang-hyun, an economist at the University of Seoul.
"The plan backed by increasing taxes to boost jobs in the short term is to artificially make the numbers higher. It is window dressing. And this suggests it has committed statistical fraud."
The number of jobs in manufacturing decreased 91,000 in November, from a year earlier. The private sector had to let go that many workers mostly due to cost cutting amid a slowdown, according to the statistics agency.
Corporate investment for plant expansion is expected to decrease 4.4 percent in 2018, from 2017. And it will further drop 6.3 percent in 2019, indicating a dim outlook for the private sector, according to research by the Korea Development Bank.
In contrast, companies in social and healthcare services backed by the government's welfare policies created 164,000 jobs.
The number of unemployed reached 909,000, the highest in 19 years.
However, the unemployment rate has been dropping on a monthly basis for demographic reasons.
The young population entering the workforce is shrinking, while the elderly population looking for jobs is growing.
The number of the elderly employed in November reached 194,000, the highest this year.
Also, the shrinking number of young people has in part lowered youth unemployment rate to 7.9 percent. In November 2017, it was 9.2 percent.
The decreased rate was also due to 111,000 people in their late 20s being employed in the tech sector, the statistics office said.
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