According to a report by the Korea Labor Institute titled “Non-Regular Workers’ Labor Statistics,” the wage polarization between regular and non-regular workers has intensified over the past 21 years. While the wages of regular workers have increased by 2.3 times, non-regular workers’ wages have increased by less than double.
The report shows that the average monthly wage of regular workers rose from 1,675,000 won in 2003 to 3,796,000 won last year, a 126.6% increase. In contrast, non-regular workers, including contingent, part-time, dispatched, and subcontract workers, saw their wages increase by only 99%, from 1,029,000 won to 2,048,000 won during the same period—a 27.6 percentage point disparity in wage growth between the two groups over 21 years.
Hourly wages for non-regular workers varied depending on the type when regular workers’ hourly wages are indexed to 100. Overall, non-regular workers’ hourly wage decreased slightly from 71.7 in 2003 to 69.4 in 2024. Part-time workers, characterized by slightly fewer working hours than others in the same workplace, experienced a significant drop in hourly wages from 85.5 to 62.0. The number of part-time workers increased steadily from 2,663,000 in 2017 to 4,256,000 last year, yet their hourly wages remain significantly lower than those of regular workers.
For subcontract workers, the wage gap narrowed considerably, from 49.4 in 2003 to 61.4 in 2024. This could be influenced by an increase in unionized subcontract workers from 1.1% to 3.3% during the same period, indicating stronger bargaining power with employers.
The proportion of workers eligible for severance pay increased from 66.4% of regular workers in 2003 to 95.6% in 2024, whereas for non-regular workers, it rose from 24.9% to 46.4%, showing that more than half still work in environments where they do not receive severance pay.
The total number of wage workers increased from 14,195,000 in 2003 to 22,143,000 in 2024. Among them, the proportion of non-regular workers rose from 32.6% to 38.2%, a 5.6 percentage point increase over 21 years.