Hard to Find a Job at KRW 3,000 per Hour

As the domestic economy worsens, wage-earners on an hourly or daily basis who make a living from temporary jobs have increased in numbers considerably. What is worse is that it is becoming more difficult to find positions such as these on the market.

Workers who make a living on an hourly or daily basis such as construction workers or those jobs not requiring specialized skills are paid around KRW 3,000 per hour, considered very low on the economy. Yet it is difficult to find these jobs.

Recently two of our press reporters worked for a week as daily laborers at Moran market in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province. Through their personal experience they found out that the probability of getting a job for this type of work was about 50%, similar to getting a job every other day. The job market usually opened at 3 a.m. The average hourly wage was KRW 3,000-5,000. This translates into monthly wages of KRW 600,000–1,000,000 only if they work 8 hours a day for 25 days. Employers in this case usually control the payment method and the terms and conditions of labor contracts. As such, employers often pay on a weekly basis, not a daily basis.

As a reflection of the severity of unemployment rate, ten percent of those who try to find temporary jobs are in their twenties and thirties. Women laborers in their forties and fifties usually do jobs like chopping cabbage, handing out leaflets or cleaning offices, etc. Their wages are 30% less than for men.

“When spring comes, more job opportunities are usually available, yet this year we find less job opportunities than last year,” said Joo-bo Kim (42), a clerk at the Seoul Nambu Office for laborers of daily employment, under supervision from the Ministry of Labor. “That`s why those job seekers are having a hard time finding even temporary work.”

“The number of young people who are inquiring about simple jobs this year have approximately doubled as compared to last year, but it is not easy for them to get job opportunities because of the recession”, explained Byung-ho Jeong (47), director of the Ire labor manpower organization, a private job search agency.

According to ‘Employment Statistics for March’ published recently by the Korea National Statistical Office, the number of day laborers was 2,127,000 persons, having increased 92,000 persons from February, and the number of temporary jobs with an employment period less than one year was 4,966,000 persons, an increase of 113,000 persons from that of February.

In particular, as of March, the unemployment rate for those in their twenties was 8.0%, 4 times higher than for those in their forties (2.1%) and in their fifties (2.4%). The number of unemployed males between fifteen and twenty-nine years old increased by 23,000 persons compared to that of the same period last year.

“The reason why the number of laborers on an hourly or daily basis is growing is that employers avoid hiring long term because of the economic recession,” said Nam Sung-il, professor in the Economics Department of Sogang University. “Young people therefore who cannot find stable jobs enter this labor market.”

“It is an ominous sign that young people are having trouble finding temporary jobs. Laborers who get paid low wages and work in unstable conditions may weaken the consumption market and can worsen the economic recession”, said Jin-won Cho, vice chief of the Korean Part Time Employment Center.