Proportion of S.Korea's non-regular workers falls to 37.5 pct in August

The proportion of South Korea's non-regular workers fell this year due to a faster increase in regular employees than non-regular ones, statistical office data showed Tuesday.

The ratio of non-regular workers, including part-timers, daily laborers and outsourced workers, stood at 37.5 percent of the total wage and salary earners in August, down 0.9 percentage points from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

The number of non-regular workers increased by 90,000 to 8,156,000 in the cited month, while the reading for regular ones jumped by 641,000 to 13,568,000.

The labor market gradually returned to normalcy from the COVID-19 pandemic shock, especially among elderly people.

The number of non-regular workers among those aged 60 and older expanded by 151,000 in August from the same month of last year, while those in their 40s and 30s reduced by 96,000 and 33,000, respectively.

Figures for non-regular employees in the lodging and eatery, the health and welfare services and the manufacturing sectors increased in the month, but those for the construction and the agricultural sectors lost ground.

Among the total non-regular workers, 3,653,000, or 44.7 percent, were men, while 4,503,000 were women.