The number of planned hires by domestic businesses for the second and third quarters of this year has decreased compared to the same period last year.

As hiring plans continue to shrink, a reversal has occurred where the number of planned hires has fallen below the number of personnel businesses perceive as lacking.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced these results today (June 30) as part of its first-half labor force survey by industry.

According to the Ministry, the number of job openings at businesses with one or more employees in the first quarter of this year was 1.464 million, an increase of 48,000 (3.4%) from the same period last year.

The number of people hired also rose to 1.368 million, an increase of 60,000 (4.6%) compared to the first quarter of last year.

As of April 1, the start of the second quarter, the number of personnel deemed lacking at businesses with one or more employees was 467,000, similar to the same period last year.

The number of personnel deemed lacking refers to the number of additional staff businesses believe they need for normal operations, regardless of whether they are actively hiring or have plans to do so.

In contrast, the number of planned hires by domestic businesses for the second and third quarters is 460,000, a decrease of 9,000 (1.8%) from the second and third quarters of last year.

This figure is 7,000 lower than the number of personnel deemed lacking, marking the first time such a reversal has occurred since statistics for businesses with one or more employees began to be compiled in 2021.

Jeong Hyang-sook, head of the Labor Market Research Division at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, analyzed, "Even when the survey was limited to businesses with five or more employees, the number of planned hires was always higher than the number of personnel deemed lacking, but this is the first time it has flipped. It seems that uncertainty stemming from the war in the Middle East has been reflected, leading to a further decline in hiring plans."

The number of planned hires by domestic businesses for the second and third quarters has shown a consistent downward trend, decreasing by 86,000 in 2023, 59,000 in 2024, 44,000 last year, and 9,000 this year compared to the previous year.

Industries with high numbers of personnel deemed lacking and planned hires included manufacturing (96,000 lacking, 93,000 planned), health and social welfare (68,000 lacking, 66,000 planned), and wholesale and retail (53,000 lacking, 50,000 planned).

By business size, businesses with fewer than 300 employees had 421,000 personnel deemed lacking, an increase of 2,000 (0.6%) from the same period last year, but their planned hires stood at 412,000, a decrease of 5,000 (1.2%).

For businesses with 300 or more employees, the number of personnel deemed lacking fell by 2,000 (5.0%) to 46,000, and planned hires also dropped by 4,000 (7.0%) to 48,000, indicating a clear slowdown in hiring demand.

As of the first quarter of this year, the number of unfilled positions fell to 96,000, a decrease of 13,000 (11.8%) from the first quarter of last year, marking the first time the figure has dropped below 100,000.

Unfilled positions refer to instances where businesses actively sought to hire but were unable to fill the vacancies.

The vacancy rate, which represents the number of unfilled positions relative to the total number of job openings, fell by 1.2 percentage points to 6.5%.

The Ministry also announced the results of the May labor force survey on the same day.

As of the end of last month, the number of employees at businesses with one or more workers was 20.701 million, an increase of 202,000 (1.0%) from May of last year.

The growth was led by the health and social welfare service sector (up 114,000), the finance and insurance sector (up 33,000), and public administration, defense, and social security administration (up 26,000).

Conversely, the number of employees decreased in sectors such as wholesale and retail (down 26,000), arts, sports, and leisure-related services (down 8,000), and construction (down 3,000).

Employment in the wholesale and retail sector has been on a decline for 26 consecutive months, and in the construction sector for 23 consecutive months.

As of April, the total average monthly wage per worker at businesses with one or more regular employees was 4.031 million won, a 1.5% (61,000 won) increase from April of the previous year.

The finance and insurance sector had the highest average monthly wage at 8.264 million won, followed by the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply sector at 6.147 million won.

In contrast, the accommodation and food service sector had the lowest wage at 2.341 million won.

Wages in the business facilities management, business support, and rental service sector were 2.849 million won.

By employment status, the average monthly wage for regular employees was 4.294 million won, up 1.9% (79,000 won) from April of last year, while the wage for temporary and daily workers was 1.841 million won, an increase of 3.1% (55,000 won).