Jeju has the nation’s highest employment rate... 6,000 fewer regular workers, 10,000 more non-regular workers

【Financial News, Jeju = Jeong Yong-bok】 Jeju, which has the nation’s highest employment rate, saw the number of regular workers decline and the number of non-regular workers increase. In August this year, regular workers fell by 6,000 from a year earlier, while non-regular workers increased by 10,000. The share of non-regular workers among wage workers was also the third-highest in the country.
According to the results of the August 2026 Economically Active Population Survey Supplementary Survey by Employment Type, released the previous day by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the number of wage workers in Jeju stood at 278,000. Of these, 156,000 were regular workers and 122,000 were non-regular workers.
In August last year, there were 162,000 regular workers and 112,000 non-regular workers. With the number of regular workers declining and non-regular workers increasing this year, the composition of wage workers by employment type changed.
Non-regular workers accounted for 43.9% of workers in Jeju, up about 3.0 percentage points from 40.9% last year. Over the same period, the national average rose by 0.3 percentage points, from 38.2% to 38.5%. The gap between Jeju and the national average widened from 2.7 to 5.4 percentage points.
Jeju also ranked among the regions with the highest shares of non-regular workers. Among the 16 cities and provinces, with Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City counted as a single region starting this year, Jeju ranked third, after Gangwon (49.0%) and Jeonnam-Gwangju (45.6%). The figures were 42.9% in Daejeon, 42.2% in Jeonbuk, and 41.7% in Busan.
The increase in non-regular workers in Jeju has drawn attention because it contrasts with the province’s high employment rate. According to the August employment trends released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the employment rate among people aged 15 and older in Jeju was 71.9%, 8.6 percentage points above the national average of 63.3%. This was the highest rate among the country’s cities and provinces.
Jeju’s employment rate rose by 2.1 percentage points from the same month last year. The number of employed people also increased by 12,000 to 415,000, while the unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 0.8%.
The number of non-regular workers also increased nationwide. In August this year, there were 8,671,000 non-regular workers, up 103,000 from the previous year. The number of regular workers rose by 10,000 to 13,855,000.
The nationwide increase in non-regular workers reflected changes among older people and in sectors such as health and social welfare. The number of non-regular workers aged 60 and older rose by 135,000 to 3,180,000. It increased by 112,000 in health and social welfare services and by 43,000 in accommodation and food services.
Differences in working conditions were also evident nationwide. From June to August this year, average monthly wages were 4,052,000 won for regular workers and 2,112,000 won for non-regular workers. Workplace enrollment rates in the National Pension were 88.6% and 36.5%, respectively, while Employment Insurance enrollment rates were 93.0% and 54.0%.
The Ministry of Data and Statistics plans to release the survey’s microdata in November. The data will make it possible to see which industries and age groups accounted for the increase in non-regular workers in Jeju, and what changes occurred by employment type, such as part-time and fixed-term work.


[email protected] Jeong Yong-bok Reporter