 |
| gettyimagesbank |
By Yi Whan-woo
Smaller businesses are finding it more difficult to hire workers in the manufacturing sector where jobs are diminishing fast, according to data, Friday.
The findings released by Statistics Korea showed that the number of newly created jobs in the manufacturing industry amounted to 4.48 million between January and May, down 49,531 from a year earlier.
The year-on-year decline comes as global demand weakened and Korea's exports declined for eight months straight until May.
Regarding the reduction in the number of jobs in the first five months of this year, firms with five or fewer employees accounted for 91 percent or 45,065 jobs.
For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that hire less than 300 employees, the number of newly hired workers went down by 22,387 year-on-year to 2.92 million.
However, for conglomerates with 300 or more employees, the number of new job positions increased by 17,921 from a year earlier.
"It can be said that the polarization of the jobs market is extreme in the manufacturing sector, and that, the smaller a company is, the tougher it is to hire a worker," the Korea Labour & Society Institute said.
The institute said that subcontractors are affected most by the economic unrest and that, smaller firms that are contracted by larger companies, can't afford to hire workers.
Meanwhile, the overall number of new employees in the manufacturing sector has been declining after it peaked at 4.6 million in 2015, due to expanded production in overseas and outsourced production.
![[INTERVIEW] Ecolab helps Korean partners profit from ESG management](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/7a924189dbb7426ab12275ba98702309.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[ANALYSIS] Has N. Korean leader's daughter been confirmed as heir apparent?](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/e65868a1b5834cc3aef853378637d1fd.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'Lifeline for migrant workers in Korea' - Rev. Kim fights for foreign employees' rights](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/8fb4b5d381da49df90276394550f2889.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Korea to work with US, Japan to fight climate change](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/800d9054a14b4a0f9cc576366cc1b914.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Hip-hop group Uptown returns after 13 years with new lineup](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/0eae35da5e9c40c38cf439e550a2eb3e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
