Hiring Grinds to Halt at Small Businesses
07 November, 2018
Small businesses have no hiring plans for the latter half of this year amid economic uncertainty in Korea.
While the top 20 businesses decided to hire a few more employees in the second half of this year compared to the first half, small to mid-sized companies are unlikely to boost their employee numbers.
The Korean Federation of SMEs said Tuesday that out of 2,010 companies it surveyed, 82.9 percent or 1,666 of them had no hiring plans for the second half, up from 73.6 percent in the first half. Those with hiring plans expected to recruit only a handful of people, with an average of 2.6 employees.
The main reasons for the hiring freeze were "economic uncertainty" (32.3 percent) and "rising personnel costs" (31.9 percent). Some 56.1 percent of them said they have no choice but to reduce hiring or lay off staff.
The survey also found that the overall working conditions worsened, as there were no backups available due to a lack of employees, making it impossible for many staff to take a leave from their jobs.
Lee Jae-won at the federation said, "The drop in hiring by small businesses will exacerbate youth unemployment."
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