Demand for new employees by businesses in South Korea 
fell to an eleven-year low amid growing uncertainties from the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to latest data by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Monday, local companies with five or more regular workers either hired or plan to hire 238-thousand new employees from April to September, down five-point-one percent from a year earlier.

The size of new hires is the smallest since 208-thousand recorded during the global financial crisis in the first quarter of 2009.

In the first quarter of this year, companies with five or more regular workers had planned to employ 793-thousand people, down three-point-nine percent on-year. They were later found to have employed 734-thousand.

The ministry cited delayed school openings, cram school shutdowns, a decline in the number of tourists, and social distancing as factors that contributed to the reduced hiring numbers.

The ministry's job market data showed signs of improvement in July, with the number of employees at businesses employing one or more people reaching 18-point-45 million as the end of July, down point-seven percent on-year.