Over four out of ten workers at small- and mid-sized enterprises in the nation are non-regular workers, recent data shows. 

According to Statistics Korea on Monday, the number of workers who are not employed on regular, full-time contracts at companies with fewer than 300 employees stood at seven-million-679-thousand as of August, accounting for 41-point-one percent of all those working in such companies. 

The portion had continuously hovered below 40 percent since the comparative data began to be compiled in 2003, but it exceeded the level for the first time last year when it surged to 41-point-seven percent. 

The decline in the figure from last year came after SMEs added 371-thousand regular jobs this year amid the recovery from the peak of the pandemic while creating 90-thousand non-regular jobs. 

Meanwhile, the portion of non-regular workers at large companies with at least 300 employees was tallied at 15-point-six percent, down from 17-point-one percent last year. 

The disparity in the portion of non-regular workers' between large companies and SMEs is a record high at 25-point-five percentage points.