The number of employed women aged between 25 and 54 fell by 541,000 year-on-year last March, more than the 327,000 for men in the same age group.
The number of individuals who worked less than 36 hours a week reached 5.9 million last month, marking an increase of 836,000, or 16.6% year-on-year.
The decision has to be made before August 5, which is the legal deadline for the Ministry of Employment and Labour to deliver an official notice to the public.
Fathers in their 30s and 40s comprised 74.5% of stay-at-home dads, while those aged 60 and above comprised almost 18%.
In the past 10 years, the wage gap between regular and non-regular workers has increased by 490,000 won (US$438), up 47.6%.
South Korea's labour minister urged employees to be more adaptable to work in a fast-changing and high-tech environment.
Labour activists are calling for more to be done for workers who experience adverse symptoms after receiving their COVID-19 vaccination shots.
The number of women in their 20s who held non-regular jobs rose the fastest, growing by 5.5 percentage points.
The Ministry of Employment and Labour has increased the period which employers can have more flexibility in implementing the 52-hour work week.
The latest revision of the Workplace Harassment Prevention Law (WHPL) fails to protect subcontractors and labourers facing harassment.
Less than half of salaried workers surveyed are willing to be inoculated against the coronavirus, as uncertainty remains over potential side effects.
In February, out of the 1.35 million persons officially unemployed, 999,000 had lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
The labour force participation rate of women peaks between ages 25 and 29, before it plunges in the 30s as women leave work to care for their children.
Seoul and the neighbouring province of Gyeonggi were among the local governments ordering all of its foreign workers to be tested for COVID-19.
The number of people preparing for employment has hit a record high last month in a pandemic-affected labour market.
South Korea’s unemployment allowance payment hit a five-month high in February, surpassing 1 trillion won (US$884 million) again.
Some 63.6% of the largest 500 companies in South Korea surveyed said that they have no plans for recruitment.
The government aims to help small shop owners and firms set up a smart business system to support their transition into contactless operations.
With the extra budget, total government spending would rise to a record 573 trillion won this year, up 11.9% from 2020, the finance ministry said.
Data showed that the average monthly income of South Korean workers increased by 4.1% in 2019 year-on-year due to a rise in minimum wage.
Data from Statistics Korea showed that household incomes from salaries and business operations declined for three consecutive quarters in Q4 2020.
Statistics Korea said the number of temporary and daily jobs for those in their 20s declined 18% in January due to the pandemic.
Smaller businesses saw a steep drop in employment numbers while that of larger conglomerates rose last year.
Service industries that require face-to-face interactions are expected to have a slower recovery as compared to other sectors.
There were 27,423 private sectors workers who requested paternity leave last year, more than double that of 2017’s total of 12,042.
The supplementary budget is reported to be in the scale of 20 trillion won (US$17.9 billion) to 30 trillion won (US$26.8 billion).
The Korea Employment Information Service (Keis) said South Korea’s income gap increased by 4% year-on-year in 2020 due to the fallout from COVID-19.
Among new recruits last December, some 407,000 people had experience working at a second job, data shows.
An OECD report has calculated that by 2050, Japan’s working-age population would have declined to 61.8%.
The finance ministry plans to hand out 4.1 trillion won (US$3.7 billion) in emergency cash to people affected by the third wave of the coronavirus.
