Korea transportation worker numbers fall record 24% in June

By Yonhap

Published : July 9, 2017 - 14:42

Workers hired by South Korean shipbuilders, aircraft and train manufacturers plunged 24 percent last month amid sector-wide restructuring and low market demand, the labor ministry said Sunday.

The number of workers who have employment insurance in the three major transportation sectors and equipment industries fell by 47,500 to 148,000 in June from 195,500 a month earlier, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said.

(Yonhap)

In May, the corresponding figure declined 22.2 percent from April largely affected by job cuts in shipyards in Ulsan and Geoje, located in the southern part of the country, it said.

Major shipbuilders, such as Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., have cut jobs and sold noncore assets to cope with oversupply and low demand after being hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis. (Yonhap)