Students are walking on campus at Yonsei University in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo = News 1
According to the current government, 1.95 million’full-time (full-time) jobs’ that work more than 40 hours a week have disappeared. On the other hand, the number of short-time workers less than 40 hours per week increased by 2.13 million. The’full-time converted employment rate (FTE employment rate)’, an employment index reflecting working hours, fell to a record low in 2018 and has been falling every year since. This is due to the fact that the government has increased fiscal jobs, working 15 hours a week, and’compulsory reduction of working hours’ due to the increase in the minimum wage.
The employment index looks good on the outside, with the number of all employed steadily increasing, but looking at the detailed situation, it is the reason why the job market has festered as it should.
Mass production of only short-time workers with’forced war label’
As a result of analyzing raw data on employment trends by the National Statistical Office on the 21st, Yu Gyeong-jun’s Office of the People’s Power of the People’s Republic of Korea (NSO) analyzed the number of workers with more than 40 hours of working hours per week from 20.84 million in 2017 to 18.89 million last year, down by 1.95 million over three years. Workers of 40 hours or more per week are based on the OECD’s full-time workforce. It can also be called a’full job’, working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
The number of workers under 40 hours a week increased by 2.13 million from 2017 to 2020. Thanks to this, the total number of employed has increased by 180,000, but it is pointed out that the total number of jobs has disappeared and the quality of employment has deteriorated significantly. During the four years from 2013 to 2017 during the Park Geun-hye administration, the number of workers over 40 hours per week increased by 2.14 million and the number of workers under 40 hours per week decreased by 720,000.
The “full-time equivalent employment rate (FTE)” for those aged 15 and over also declined sharply, including 65.1% in 2017, 63.0% in 2018, 62.0% in 2019, and 58.6% last year. It has dropped by 6.5 percentage points in three years.
The FTE employment rate is the’employment rate reflecting working hours’ calculated by looking at’one employee who worked 40 hours a week’, and is the official OECD statistics. It is calculated as’employment rate x actual working hours per week/40 hours’. If you work 20 hours, you hit 0.5 people, and if you work 80 hours, you hit 2 people. Even if they work one hour a week, they compensate for the limit of the general employment rate, which counts as one employed person. The general employment rate, which does not reflect actual working hours, declined slightly, such as 60.8% in 2017, 60.7% in 2018, 60.9% in 2019, and 60.1% last year.
The FTE employment rate decreased only 1.4 percentage points from 66.5% to 65.1% from 2010 to 2017. This is why there is an evaluation that the deterioration of employment in the last three years is unusual. It is difficult to make an excuse for Corona 19, which has already fallen to a record low in 2018 (63.0%). The previous record was 64.4% in 2013. The average working hours per week for those who are 15 years old or older also fell from 42.8 hours in 2017 to 39.0 hours last year.
Rep. Gyeong-joon Yoo pointed out, “It is not a natural reduction in working hours, but a’forced war label’ created by the expansion of fiscal jobs, strengthening labor regulations, and the economic downturn.”
In the United States and the United Kingdom, full-time workers are increasing.
The government argues that the decline in the FTE employment rate is natural according to the trend of the times, such as reduction of working hours, and that the same is true of major countries in the world. Representative Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor, said last year, “As the global economy and employment environment change, short-term jobs tend to increase.” Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung also criticized former National Power Congressman Yoo Seung-min, who argued that employment deterioration was serious due to the decline in the FTE employment rate in October of last year, saying, “It misleads the people with fake news.”
However, the average FTE employment rate in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member states at the age of 15-64, which is the international standard, rose from 64.2% in 2017 to 65.5% in 2019. During the same period, the US improved from 67.5% to 68.9% and the UK from 68.4% to 69.3%. Rep. Yoo said, “In the 2010s, the proportion of full-time workers in recent years has been increasing as reflections have increased that excessive working hours reduction policies have deteriorated the quality of employment, especially in major developed countries.”
On the other hand, between 2017 and 2019, the employment rate of FTEs aged 15 to 64 in Korea fell 3.3 percentage points from 72.3% to 69.0%. The decline was the largest among 35 OECD countries. As of 2019, it was reversed in the UK (69.3%) and Sweden (69.5%).
“A massive increase in tax jobs,’statistical snacks'”
Experts diagnose three main reasons why the current government only increased workers for a short time and the quality of employment has deteriorated significantly. △Expanded supply of government fiscal jobs (direct jobs) △Expanded’forced reduction in working hours’ due to a surge in the minimum wage △The lack of quality private jobs due to the economic downturn.
The expansion of direct jobs is regarded as the main culprit that made the job market look good by increasing the total number of employed. Direct jobs are short-term contract jobs created by the government by paying labor costs in taxes to the vulnerable. In most cases, the contract period is less than one year, and the working hours are less than 30 hours per week. They provide traffic guidance, pick up trash, and help with quarantine activities. Since there are many projects for the elderly, direct jobs and jobs for the elderly are sometimes used as synonyms.
The government increased the supply of direct jobs from 617,000 in 2017 to 945,000 last year based on this budget. Last year, at least 300,000 additional units were supplied as an additional budget. Combined, last year’s supply amounted to at least 1.24 million. It has increased by more than 600,000 in three years. Considering that the increase amounted to only 145,000 over the six years from 2011 to 2017, this is an explosive increase.
Park Ki-sung, professor of economics at Sungshin Women’s University, said, “Even considering that the vulnerable class needs help, the supply of direct jobs is so high that they are at the level of’statistical analysis’ with tax. The National Assembly Budget Office also pointed out that “the number of direct job extensions is too large” in the report on the ‘3rd additional budget plan analysis for 2020’ in June of last year.
Dividing working hours by raising the minimum wage is widespread
The sharp increase in the minimum wage contributed to the increase of short-time workers by compulsory reduction of working hours. The government raised the minimum wage by 16.4% in 2018 and 10.9% in 2019. The increase rate in 2018 was the highest ever. Attempts to reduce the working hours of employees have spread among small business owners, who have increased the burden of labor costs, to save even the weekly vacation allowance. This is because workers less than 15 hours a week do not have to pay weekly vacation pay. As a result of a survey by the Federation of Small Business Owners in January 2019, 77.2% of small business owners answered that “working hours have been reduced to less than 15 hours a week in order to not pay weekly vacation pay.” Among small and medium-sized security and cleaning companies, there have also been cases of dismissing employees altogether without overcoming the burden of labor costs.
In addition, the recession, which began in earnest from 2019, further increased the difficulty in employment. Kim Sang-bong, professor of economics at Hansung University, said, “Because of the current government, the influx of short-time work for young people has increased significantly.” In fact, the employment rate of FTEs in their 20s fell from 59.2% in 2017 to 56.8% in 2019 and 52.5% last year. This means that not only the number of unemployed workers in their twenties increased, but also the number of short-time workers also increased significantly. The employment rate of FTEs in their 30s also fell from 81.8% in 2017 to 76.1% last year. This is why it is pointed out that “the failure of the government’s employment policy has a particularly great blow to the youth.”
Choi Mo (31), who graduated from a four-year university in Seoul, said, “I have written applications to more than 40 companies since graduation in early 2019, but all of them have been eliminated.” “It feels different.”
Reporter Seo Min-joon [email protected]