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Avg. 333 Temp Workers Laid Off Daily in Korea

Posted July. 15, 2009 08:21,   

한국어

Since the Non-regular Employees Act took effect July 1, the number of temporary workers laid off has been three times that of those turned into regular staff, the Labor Ministry said yesterday.

The ministry surveyed 8,931 domestic companies with more than five employees and submitted the results to the ruling Grand National Party Monday. The study found that 4,325 temporary workers were dismissed while 1,644 were made into permanent staff, meaning an average of 333 workers was laid off daily since July 1.

The real number of laid-off workers will be larger than that found by the survey, however, given that the surveyed companies account for 1.7 percent of the country’s 518,000 companies with more than five employees.

A ministry official said, “The survey was conducted on major companies within the jurisdiction of labor supervisors. So when the scope is expanded to small businesses, the situation will turn out to be much grimmer.

The ministry said it cannot know the exact number of laid-off workers since companies is not required to report either dismissal or transition of temporary workers to the Labor Ministry. Because of this limitation, a survey of 10,000 to 15,000 companies next month is being considered to assess the situation more accurately.

Labor Minister Lee Young-hee visited the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee to brief the body’s secretaries on the condition of temporary workers and countermeasures.



kimkihy@donga.com