South Korea's Wage Gap Hits 1.94 Million Won as Nonregular Employment Reaches Record

Older workers and care jobs drive a widening divide

South Korea's nonregular workers accounted for 103,000 of the country's 113,000 additional wage earners in the year to August 2026, or 91.2% of the net increase. Their numbers reached a record 8.671 million, while their average monthly earnings fell further behind those of regular employees.

The Ministry of Data and Statistics released its August 2026 supplementary survey on employment types on October 21. It counted 22.526 million wage workers, including 13.855 million regular employees. Nonregular workers represented 38.5% of the total, up from 38.2% a year earlier and above the previous peak of 38.4% in August 2021.

Regular employees earned an average of 4.052 million won a month between June and August, compared with 2.112 million won for nonregular workers. The difference reached 1.94 million won, an increase of 132,000 won from the previous year. Employment numbers and shares were the highest in the series beginning in 2003; wage comparisons were described as records dating to 2004, although some accounts used 2003 for both.

Workers aged 60 or older and jobs in health and social welfare were central to the increase. More than half of nonregular workers had shorter working schedules, which reduced the group's average monthly earnings. Even after those workers were excluded, a substantial and growing pay gap remained.

Most employment growth came outside regular jobs

Regular employment increased by just 10,000 from August 2025, compared with an increase of 160,000 in the preceding year. Nonregular employment rose by 103,000, continuing an upward trend that began in 2024.

The 91.2% figure describes the change in the number of people employed between two survey dates. Hiring, departures and changes in employment status all contribute to that net result. Regular workers still made up 61.5% of wage earners, but their numbers grew much more slowly.

Nonregular employment covers several arrangements, including temporary contracts, work with shorter scheduled hours, and forms of employment such as dispatch and daily labor. Temporary workers increased by 187,000 to 6.035 million. Workers with shorter schedules increased by 152,000 to 4.382 million, while atypical workers, including dispatch and contract service workers, fell by 48,000 to 1.786 million.

A worker can fit more than one category, for example by having both a temporary contract and a shorter schedule. The category totals therefore overlap. Under the domestic definition, a worker's scheduled hours can qualify as shorter even when they are only one hour below those of someone doing the same work at the same workplace.

Pay rose, but the distance grew faster

Regular employees received an average monthly increase of 156,000 won, or 4.0%, taking their earnings above 4 million won for the first time. Nonregular employees gained 24,000 won, or 1.1%. Across all wage workers, average monthly earnings rose by 100,000 won to 3.305 million won.

The monthly gap grew from 1.808 million won to 1.94 million won, an increase of about 7.3%. Nonregular workers earned 52.1% as much as regular workers, down from 53.6% in 2025. That ratio was also below the previous low of 52.9% recorded in 2020.

The latest figures extend the pattern seen in last year's wage divide, when older workers and care jobs were already reshaping employment. The earlier monthly gap of about 1.81 million won has widened as regular employees received larger increases and shorter schedules became more common among nonregular workers.

The main dates help separate the employment snapshot from the period used to calculate wages:

• August 2025: Nonregular workers accounted for 38.2% of wage earners, and the monthly earnings gap was 1.808 million won.
• June to August 2026: Average monthly earnings reached 4.052 million won for regular workers and 2.112 million won for nonregular workers.
• August 2026: Nonregular employment reached 8.671 million, or 38.5% of wage earners.
• October 21, 2026: The ministry released the survey results.
• December 2026: The labor ministry aims to announce a roadmap on equal pay for work of equal value.

Shorter hours explain part of the gap

Workers with shorter schedules accounted for 50.5% of nonregular employment, up from 49.4% a year earlier. Their growing presence pulled down the group's average monthly wage because fewer scheduled hours generally mean a smaller monthly paycheck.

Nonregular workers averaged 29.5 working hours a week, an increase of 1.3 hours from a year earlier. Regular workers averaged 40.4 hours. The monthly earnings figures combine differences in hours, occupations, experience and pay rates across these groups.

Kim Rakhyeon, director of employment statistics at the Ministry of Data and Statistics, explained why changes in the workforce affected the wage average.

Because the number of part-time workers and workers aged 60 or older increased, the rise in wages for non-regular workers was relatively small,

Nonregular workers excluding those with shorter schedules earned 3.098 million won a month. Their pay rose by 61,000 won, or 2.0%, half the regular employee growth rate. Their monthly shortfall against regular workers was 954,000 won, up from roughly 859,000 won a year earlier.

Their earnings also fell from about 78% of regular employee pay to 76.5%. Shorter schedules therefore explain a large portion of the headline gap, while slower wage growth extends to other nonregular workers too.

Workers over 60 account for more than a third

People aged 60 or older held 3.18 million nonregular jobs, an increase of 135,000 in a year. They represented a record 36.7% of nonregular workers, up 1.2 percentage points.

The increase among older workers exceeded the 103,000 rise in nonregular employment as a whole because declines in other age groups offset some of that growth. Workers aged 70 or older numbered 1.29 million, up 85,000. They outnumbered nonregular workers in their 40s, who totaled 1.184 million, by 106,000.

Women held 4.963 million nonregular jobs and men held 3.708 million. Women's share slipped slightly to 57.2%, although their numbers increased by 46,000. Men's numbers rose by 57,000.

Older workers seeking income after retirement often return through jobs with limited hours or a defined contract period. Yang Jun-seok, an economics professor at the Catholic University of Korea, called for wider opportunities for employment after retirement, better treatment for those rehired, and changes to wage systems that rely heavily on years of service.

Younger workers face a different squeeze

Workers aged 15 to 29 in nonregular employment fell by 64,000 to 1.482 million. Within that group, the number aged 20 to 29 fell by 88,000, while employment among teenagers increased. Nonregular workers in their 40s declined by 20,000.

Kim linked the declines among younger workers and people in their 40s partly to shrinking populations in those age groups. He also identified weak employment conditions for young people as another factor.

Kim, speaking in his role as the ministry's employment statistics director, described the pressure on younger jobseekers:

The youth's difficult job situation likely also had some impact on the decrease in non-regular workers.

South Korea consequently faces two employment pressures at once. Older people are adding to the workforce through nonregular positions, while younger people face difficulty entering employment. Measures aimed at extending working lives and measures aimed at opening opportunities for new entrants have to address those different needs.

Care services are at the center of growth

Health and social welfare employed 1.867 million nonregular workers, or 21.5% of the total. Its increase of 112,000 exceeded the nationwide net rise in nonregular employment, showing how strongly this sector shaped the results.

The detail within care employment is especially revealing. Jobs with shorter schedules increased by 120,000, while other nonregular jobs in the sector fell by about 8,000. Growth was concentrated in arrangements offering fewer hours and generally smaller monthly earnings.

Accommodation and food services employed 856,000 nonregular workers, or 9.9% of the total, after adding 43,000. Business facilities support employed 851,000, or 9.8%. Information and communications lost 24,000 nonregular workers, while public administration lost 22,000.

Jang Ji-yeon, a senior research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, argued that narrowing the pay gap requires better wages in care services, where government funding and decisions have a major role. She pointed to pay remaining around minimum wage levels as demand for care increases.

Care work connects both sides of South Korea's aging population: more people need assistance, and more older people are looking for paid work. The wages and hours attached to those jobs therefore affect both the services communities receive and the incomes of the people providing them.

Benefits are falling behind as well

Nonregular workers had an average tenure of three years at their current workplace, one month longer than a year earlier. Their access to several employment benefits nevertheless declined.

National Pension enrollment stood at 36.5% for nonregular workers, compared with 88.6% for regular employees, a gap of 52.1 percentage points. Health insurance enrollment was 53.0% against 95.7%, a difference of 42.7 percentage points. Nonregular enrollment fell by 0.6 percentage points for pensions and 0.2 points for health insurance.

Retirement benefit receipt showed a similar divide. The rate for regular workers rose by 0.6 percentage points to 96.2%, while the nonregular rate fell by 0.3 points to 45.7%. Nonregular workers also recorded lower receipt rates for bonuses, overtime pay and paid holidays.

Nonregular workers' reasons for choosing their arrangements were varied. Some 68.0% said their employment type was voluntary, up 0.2 percentage points. Among that group, 59.9% cited satisfaction with working conditions, 21.7% cited job stability, 11.4% cited reasons including changing jobs, and 7.0% cited income matching effort or adjustable hours.

For household budgets, both earnings and benefits matter. A worker may prefer a particular schedule while still receiving less pension support or fewer paid benefits than someone in regular employment.

Banks and international figures show the wider pattern

Employment changes also reached major banks. Financial Supervisory Service data submitted to lawmaker Park Sung-hoon showed that regular employees at KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup fell by 4,080 between the end of 2022 and the end of July 2026. Nonregular employees increased by 1,048, leaving total staffing down by 3,032.

KB Kookmin recorded a decline of 2,376 regular employees. Hana added 661 nonregular employees, the largest increase among the five banks, while Woori added 504.

International comparisons use a narrower temporary employment category than South Korea's domestic nonregular measure. Under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development comparison, South Korea's temporary employment share was 27.5% in 2025, against 25.8% in the Netherlands, 14.2% in Japan, 11.8% in Canada, 11.5% in Germany and 5.1% in Britain.

South Korea's share was therefore about 1.9 times Japan's, using 27.5% and 14.2%. The corresponding domestic calculation for August 2026 counted 6.345 million temporary workers, or 28.2% of wage earners. That measure focuses on temporary employment arrangements; shorter working hours alone do not put someone in the category.

December pay roadmap faces competing demands

The Ministry of Employment and Labor aims to announce a roadmap in December 2026 for equal pay for work of equal value. The principle means that work requiring comparable skills, responsibility and effort should receive comparable pay.

The ministry is considering adding an explicit provision to the Labor Standards Act. Equal value pay provisions currently sit in the Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation, where their application centers on gender discrimination. The roadmap is expected to address legislation, more detailed wage information and bargaining involving multiple employers.

Wage information organized by duties, position and years of service could help workers and employers compare similar roles. Bargaining across employers could allow pay discussions to cover an industry rather than a single company.

Labor representatives worry that a shift toward pay based on job duties could be used to reduce wages. Management representatives argue that workers doing similar tasks may have different capabilities. The ministry plans to gather both sides' views; the proposals have not been finalized.

Consumer prices rising by around 3% during the wage comparison period also put pressure on purchasing power when nonregular earnings grew only 1.1%. Kim urged attention to changing hours and workforce composition when making that comparison. The practical challenge is to improve the income and protection attached to growing occupations, particularly care work, while addressing unequal treatment within workplaces.

Key Points

• Nonregular employment reached 8.671 million in August 2026, a record 38.5% of wage earners.
• Nonregular workers accounted for 91.2% of the annual net increase in wage employment.
• The average monthly pay gap widened to 1.94 million won, up 132,000 won.
• Excluding workers with shorter schedules, the monthly gap was still 954,000 won.
• Workers aged 60 or older represented 36.7% of nonregular employment.
• Health and social welfare accounted for 21.5% of nonregular workers and led employment growth.
• Pension enrollment and retirement benefit receipt declined among nonregular workers.
• The labor ministry aims to announce its equal pay roadmap in December 2026.