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Summer may see job drought with ominous signs from planned hire cut in Q1

Published: 26 Jun. 2025, 16:12

Job seekers read notices for positions at a job fair held at Incheon City Hall in Incheon on June 24. [YONHAP]

Fewer employees in Korea plan to hire this summer, signaling tougher times ahead for job seekers as labor demand continues to shrink.

The labor shortage as of April 1 stood at 469,000 — down 10 percent, or 52,000, from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s Workplace Labor Force Survey by Occupation for the First Half of 2025 report, released Thursday.

The number of planned hires during the same period was 470,000, a drop of 9.7 percent, or 51,000, from last year.

In the survey, “shortage” refers to the number of additional workers needed to maintain normal operations, run production facilities, and respond to customer demand — regardless of whether firms are actively recruiting.

By industry, the largest shortages and hiring needs were reported in manufacturing, with a shortage of 97,000 and a hiring plan of 95,000, while for health and social welfare services the shortage stood at 60,000 and hiring plan at 61,000, wholesale and retail trade had a shortage of 57,000 and a hiring plan of 54,000, and accommodation and food services with both a shortage and hiring plan of 47,000.

By occupation, demand was highest for management, administration and clerical workers with a shortage of 65,000 and hiring plan of 64,000, while sales and retail workers had a shortage of 51,000 and hiring plan of 50,000. The shortage and hiring plan for food service workers both stood at 46,000, and drivers and transportation workers had a shortage of 38,000 and a hiring plan of 39,000.

A job seeker reads job notices at an employment center in Mapo District, western Seoul, on June 26. [YONHAP]

When broken down by company size, businesses with fewer than 300 employees reported a labor shortage of 421,000 and a hiring plan of 419,000 — both down 11.6 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

In contrast, companies with 300 or more employees reported a shortage of 48,000 and a hiring plan of 52,000 — up 7.9 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

In the first quarter of this year, the number of job postings stood at 1.4 million and actual hires at 1.3 million — down by 21,000 and 9,000, respectively, compared to the same quarter last year. The job vacancy rate — the proportion of job openings that remained unfilled — fell by 0.7 percentage points year-on-year to 7.7 percent.

The top reason cited by employers for failed recruitment efforts was a “lack of applicants with relevant experience,” accounting for 25.6 percent of responses. This was followed by “wages and working conditions not meeting job seekers’ expectations,” cited by 20.6 percent.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]