Worst Employment Since Foreign Exchange Crisis... Only Less Than 3 Jobs for Every 10 Job Seekers

January Job Openings Plunge 43% Year-on-Year

With the downturn in the manufacturing and construction sectors, the new year's job market is shrinking to levels comparable to the 1997 foreign exchange crisis.

According to the January labor market trends released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 10th, the number of new job openings through the employment support network 'Worknet' was 135,000, a sharp decline of 101,000 (42.7%) compared to the same month last year. The number of new job seekers also decreased by 6.5% to 479,000 compared to a year ago. As the number of job openings decreased more significantly than the number of job seekers, the job opening ratio (number of jobs per job seeker) in January plummeted to 0.28. This means there are less than 3 jobs available for every 10 job seekers. This job opening ratio is the lowest in 26 years since 1999 (0.23) right after the foreign exchange crisis. Even in January 2009 (0.29) right after the global financial crisis, it was higher than this January.

The increase in regular employment insurance subscribers was the smallest in 21 years. As of the end of January, the number of regular employment insurance subscribers increased by only 0.8% (115,000) compared to a year ago. This is the smallest increase in 21 years since January 2004 (73,000) right after the 'credit card crisis' in 2003.

Excluding the increase in mandatory foreigner subscriptions, the number of manufacturing employment insurance subscribers decreased by 17,000, marking a 16-month consecutive decline. The decrease in construction employment insurance subscribers continued for 18 months. The amount of job-seeking benefits paid reached a record high. The amount of job-seeking benefits paid in January was 974.7 billion won, an increase of 3.8% (35.6 billion won) compared to the same month in 2024. It is the highest amount on record for January. Although the number of new applicants for job-seeking benefits decreased by 7.9% (16,000) to 186,000 compared to January last year, the payment amount increased due to the rise in payment rates. Cheon Kyung-ki, head of the Future Employment Analysis Division at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, explained, "The decline in demand for manpower in related companies due to the noticeable economic slowdown in manufacturing, construction, and business services has affected the decrease in job openings."

Experts warn that as high exchange rates and high oil prices persist, and economic uncertainty both domestically and internationally has increased since the end of last year, the job market is rapidly freezing. According to the National Statistical Office, the number of employed people in December last year decreased by 52,000 compared to the same period the previous year. This is the first decrease in 3 years and 10 months since February 2021, when it decreased by 473,000 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kwak Yong-hee, Hankyung reporter kyh@hankyung.com