Manufacturing employment in South Korea rose for the first time in 28 months in January, raising hopes that the worst employment freeze of last year may be thawing. The recovery is driven by a semiconductor industry boom.
According to the January Establishment Labor Force Survey released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 26th, manufacturing workers increased by 18,000 (0.5%) year-over-year to 3.743 million. Manufacturing accounts for approximately 18% of total employment, the largest share among all industries.
Other employment indicators also showed improvement. Construction employment declined for the 20th consecutive month, but the decrease narrowed sharply to 7,000 workers, compared with 45,000 in December and 81,000 in October last year. Total employment rose to 20.224 million, up 196,000 (1%) year-over-year.
"This reflects increased hiring in the semiconductor industry," said Yoon Byung-min, Director of the Labor Market Survey Division at the Ministry of Employment and Labor. "However, it is still difficult to say that the employment freeze has been resolved, as the increase was partly driven by base effects."
The employment market froze sharply last year. The average monthly workforce in 2024 stood at 20.253 million, up just 2,000 from the previous year—effectively 0% growth. This compares with increases of 1% (202,000) in 2024 and 2.6% (512,000) in 2023, indicating employment had essentially stalled.
Real wages also stagnated. Average monthly real wages last year were 3.606 million won, up just 0.9% year-over-year. The 2024 increase was 0.5%. However, workers have emerged from the period in 2022 and 2023 when rising inflation caused real wages to decline.