‒ and South Korea is no exception. The gig economy is a sector characterized by the prevalence of flexible part-time and freelance jobs instead of traditional full-time positions. Gig workers (or platform workers) offer their services on demand via digital platforms. They have become increasingly visible in South Korea, especially during the global pandemic that has seen online marketplaces like
expand rapidly. Moreover, there has been an increase in demand from many companies for temporary workers hired on a project basis. At the same time, for job seekers, work flexibility and independence have become important factors in choosing a job ‒ all of which have also contributed to the gig economy’s development.
Gig workers in South Korea: Who are they?
The size of the gig worker population in South Korea may vary depending on definition. In general, the Korean government estimated the
number of workers providing services through online platforms to be about 2.2 million as of May 2021. This represents more than eight percent of
all employed people in the country. It includes individuals who were assigned a job through a smartphone application or online website, as well as those who found an opening via job search websites and were ultimately hired by an employer. Following this definition, delivery, transportation, and driving services accounted for nearly 30 percent of all
labor provided by platform workers, followed by food services and professional services such as translation, lecturing, and consulting. Looking at platform workers in the narrower sense ‒ whose wages were directly paid through the platform and whose work is open to many people rather than just one ‒ the figure stood at about 660 thousand.
Motivations and job satisfaction
Today,
many South Koreans want to work as gig workers. The
main reason is that gig jobs provide work flexibility and the possibility to work even after retirement. However, there are often financial reasons behind the growing interest in such gig jobs. For example, the unstable labor market situation and the increased cost of living in recent years have led to higher
demand for additional sources of income for employees. At the same time, the
overall job satisfaction of gig workers appears to be relatively high. According to a survey, about half of the gig workers surveyed stated they were satisfied with their work, while only about ten percent felt the opposite.
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