S. Korea's service sector jobs hit by COVID-19 outbreak
- 4 years ago
코로나19로 고용 충격...대면 접촉이 많은 서비스업 집중
South Korea is facing severe economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The country has seen its highest job losses since the global financial crisis and majority of them are in service industries which require human contact.
Our Eum Ji-young has more.
With consumers staying home because of the virus, one restaurant owner in Seoul says she had to reduce the number of workers at her restaurant.
"Before the outbreak, we had 10 to 12 employees at the restaurant but these days there's only 5 people including myself."
An expert says labor costs take up about 16 percent of a restaurant's total expenses, but as rent and food costs are not adjustable, owners inevitably end up laying off staff instead.
"More than 2 million people work in the food and service industry and about 30 percent of workers are non-regular staff. So about 600-thousand people are currently facing job insecurity."
South Korea lost 195-thousand jobs last month,... the largest year-on-year drop in almost eleven years.
And the service sector, which requires face-to-face interaction, saw the biggest drop in jobs.
168-thousand jobs were lost on-year in the wholesale and retail industries. The restaurant and lodging sectors saw a fall of 109-thousand jobs last month.
The number of people who are temporarily out of work also hit a new record of about 1-point-6 million people last month and one third of them were in those service industries.
"South Korea's educational service sector was also hit hard by the outbreak. Private educational institutes or hagwon were advised to close temporarily as part of social distancing efforts."
An owner of a private institute in Seoul says classes have been halted since late February and the teachers at the institute have been on unpaid leave.
"Many 'hagwons' are considering shutting down because of the direct hit to sales. Our institute have reduced teacher numbers by one third as the COVID-19 outbreak is expected to continue."
He said stringent qualifications and complicated procedures make it difficult for business owners to get support from the government.
Eum Ji-young, Arirang News.
South Korea is facing severe economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The country has seen its highest job losses since the global financial crisis and majority of them are in service industries which require human contact.
Our Eum Ji-young has more.
With consumers staying home because of the virus, one restaurant owner in Seoul says she had to reduce the number of workers at her restaurant.
"Before the outbreak, we had 10 to 12 employees at the restaurant but these days there's only 5 people including myself."
An expert says labor costs take up about 16 percent of a restaurant's total expenses, but as rent and food costs are not adjustable, owners inevitably end up laying off staff instead.
"More than 2 million people work in the food and service industry and about 30 percent of workers are non-regular staff. So about 600-thousand people are currently facing job insecurity."
South Korea lost 195-thousand jobs last month,... the largest year-on-year drop in almost eleven years.
And the service sector, which requires face-to-face interaction, saw the biggest drop in jobs.
168-thousand jobs were lost on-year in the wholesale and retail industries. The restaurant and lodging sectors saw a fall of 109-thousand jobs last month.
The number of people who are temporarily out of work also hit a new record of about 1-point-6 million people last month and one third of them were in those service industries.
"South Korea's educational service sector was also hit hard by the outbreak. Private educational institutes or hagwon were advised to close temporarily as part of social distancing efforts."
An owner of a private institute in Seoul says classes have been halted since late February and the teachers at the institute have been on unpaid leave.
"Many 'hagwons' are considering shutting down because of the direct hit to sales. Our institute have reduced teacher numbers by one third as the COVID-19 outbreak is expected to continue."
He said stringent qualifications and complicated procedures make it difficult for business owners to get support from the government.
Eum Ji-young, Arirang News.