Large companies in South Korea cut back on their workers last year, government data showed Monday, battered by an industrial downturn in the midst of ongoing restructuring in the manufacturing sector.

Firms with over 300 employees hired a total of 2.41 million staff as of January, down by 46,000 compared with the previous year, according to the latest data by Statistics Korea. 

The reduction of workers is the largest since September 2010, when the number of workers at such companies reduced by 60,000 amid a tight job market in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, the data showed.

In January, payroll size in the manufacturing sector declined by 160,000 on-year, recording the lowest in more than seven years, according to the data.

On the other hand, new hiring by smaller firms with four employees or less, which mainly include self-employed businesses like restaurants, spiked by 122,000 last month, growing at the fastest clip since the 127,000 tallied for August 2014.

Such a sluggish job market came as South Korea's manufacturing sector, one of the country's mainstay fields, has been suffering a serious setback after major shipbuilding and shipping companies underwent a painful restructuring process due to financial strain.

Hanjin Shipping, previously the nation's No. 1 shipping line and the world's seventh largest, was liquidated Friday, as a local court declared it bankrupt after it failed to resolve its debt problems.  

Meanwhile, political uncertainties surrounding the country's top conglomerates, in relation to an influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend, have been cited as reasons for big firms' reluctance to recruitment down the road.

Only SK Group, the third-largest conglomerate in Korea, has unveiled a plan for some 8,200 new positions for this year, while no other players are yet to provide details on fresh recruitment.

No. 1 conglomerate Samsung Group's recruitment plan has remained in limbo since its de facto chief Lee Jae-yong was arrested last week on bribery charges in relation to the president's scandal. (Yonhap)