Incruit announced that seven out of ten major companies in South Korea plan to hire new employees in the second half of the year.
A survey conducted by Incruit from July 1 to August 3, covering 600 companies including 74 large firms, 119 mid-sized companies, and 407 small businesses, revealed that 74.3% of large companies have hiring plans for the second half of the year. This marks a 14.6 percentage point increase compared to the same period last year.
The hiring intentions among mid-sized and small businesses also rose. Mid-sized companies reported a 15.8 percentage point increase to 58.8%, while small businesses saw a 4.3 percentage point rise to 53.3%.
However, the scale of hiring has somewhat decreased. The proportion of large companies planning to hire in the triple digits dropped to 14.5%, a decrease of 6.4 percentage points from the previous year, while mid-sized companies reported a slight decline to 1.4%. There were no plans for triple-digit hiring among small businesses.
In terms of hiring methods (multiple responses allowed), 69.3% of companies indicated they would use ongoing recruitment, while 30.7% planned to conduct regular public recruitment, and 17.3% would offer internship programs that could lead to employment.
Seo Mi-young, CEO of Incruit, stated, "The hiring market in the second half of this year is recovering, particularly among large companies, but there is a trend toward more practical hiring, leading to a reduction in scale. Given the prevalence of ongoing recruitment, job seekers need to refine their skills and clearly communicate their readiness to contribute immediately."
Meanwhile, Incruit will hold the '24th Incruit Job Fair 2026' at Korea University on the 27th, where it will share insights on the hiring market for the second half of the year. Major companies such as SK Hynix, CJ Olive Young, and Korea Electric Power Corporation will also participate in this job fair.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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