hiring

Dec. 30 (Asia Today) — South Korean companies plan to hire fewer workers through early next year, extending a cooling trend in the job market, the Labor Ministry said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said in its 2025 second-half labor force survey that businesses with at least one employee planned total hiring of 467,000 for the fourth quarter of 2025 through the first quarter of 2026. That was down 64,000, or 12.1%, from the same period a year earlier.

The ministry also reported slower labor demand. As of Oct. 1, the number of workers businesses said they needed for normal operations stood at 449,000, down 78,000, or 14.8%, year-on-year. The labor shortage rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 2.4%.

Hiring plans diverged by company size. Firms with fewer than 300 employees planned to hire 410,000, down 69,000, or 14.4%, from a year earlier. Firms with 300 or more employees planned to hire 57,000, up 5,000, or 9.2%.

By industry, planned hiring fell in manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, construction and wholesale and retail trade. Manufacturing alone was down 15,000, the ministry said. Hiring plans rose in business facility management, business support and leasing services, as well as finance and insurance.

Other indicators also pointed to weakening momentum. In the third quarter, the number of job openings stood at 1.206 million, down 90,000 from a year earlier, while hires fell 68,000 to 1.105 million, the ministry said. Both measures increased among firms with 300 or more employees, widening the gap between large companies and small and medium-sized businesses.

A ministry official said overall hiring conditions have contracted as labor shortages eased, with the downturn most pronounced among smaller firms.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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