Only 1 in 24 Has Decent Job: Report

Reports have it that the “decent jobs” in Korea have decreased by 11.5 percent in three years. In 2002, there were as many as 714,000 good jobs in Korea. However, the figure went down to 632,000 in 2005.

During the same period, salaried workers who work in conglomerates, middle and small size businesses, public companies and local or state government has increased from 14.2 million to 15.2 million. In light of the one million increase of the number of workers, the number of people with decent jobs has gone down from one out of 20 in 2002 to one out of 24 in 2005.

Decent jobs have decreased dramatically during 2002 and 2003. It has been reported that a whopping 128,000 decent jobs were lost during that year.

Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS) analyzed annual Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey results of some 70,000 newly employed people held by the Ministry of Labor and KEIS.

The analysis found that good jobs were mainly in the field of manufacturing, the largest employer, and education service positions including schoolteachers and college professors.

Decent jobs in manufacturing sharply dwindled from 175,000 in 2002 to 136,000 in 2003. However, after exports recovered from the downturn, the number of decent jobs in this field increased back in 2005. Decent jobs in education service fell off from 142,000 to 125,000 but still the number ranked second to manufacturing.

On the other hand, the domestic service sector, which includes maids, the mining industry, and the fishing industry, did not have one fair job.

The decent jobs in the transportation business, including taxi drivers, truckers, and traveling agencies, declined from 30,000 to 16,000. Also, the leasing service sector, including furnishing, clothing, and machine leasing services and real estate agencies saw their number of decent jobs declined from 6,000 to 4,000.

Kim Han-jun, an official at KEIS, said, “Decent jobs in power, gas, and water industry have increased thanks to the construction of new administrative city. However, the fact that the number of good jobs is going down means that jobs that offer rewarding incomes have decreased, but people have to work harder than before. This is worrisome.”

peacechaos@donga.com