South Korea sees rise in job additions in 2020
South Korea added its largest number of job roles in 2020 in four years due to a rise in employment in the sectors of health, social welfare service and public administration, according to official data.
Data by Statistics Korea showed that the nation’s total jobs reached 24.72 million last year, up 710,000, or 2.9% from the previous year. This marked the largest jump in job additions since 2016 when collection for such data began.
About half of the 710,000 jobs were filled by workers in their 60s, with a majority of jobs in the healthcare and public administration sectors.
In 2020, the health and social welfare service sector added 130,000 jobs, the public administration and defence industries added 120,000 jobs, while the wholesale and retail sector added 110,000 roles.
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“Amid rapid aging, job positions for the health and social care service sectors increased,” siad a Statistics Korea official, reports Yonhap.
Job posts for workers in their 50s increased by 180,000, while job roles for workers in their 40s also rose by 100,000 in 2020, an increase from a decline of 50,000 jobs for the age group in 2019.
