{
  "id": 15842821,
  "title": "Share of non-regular workers hits highest level since 2003 in Aug.: data",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/share-of-non-regular-workers-hits-highest-level-since-2003-in-aug-data",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-21T04:12:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/economy/20261021/share-of-non-regular-workers-hits-highest-level-since-2003-in-aug-data"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "South Korea saw a record high share of non-regular workers in August, with their numbers and proportion reaching levels not seen since 2003, according to the country's data ministry. The total count of non-regular workers rose to 8.67 million from 8.56 million the previous year, as reported by the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The percentage of non-regular salaried employees climbed from 38.2 percent to 38.5 percent. The official from the ministry noted that both the count and proportion of non-regular workers hit their highest levels since data collection under the current method commenced in 2003. Among the non-regular workers, 3.7 million were male and 4.96 million were female. In terms of sectors, health and social welfare employed 21.5 percent of non-regular workers.",
  "summary": "The proportion of non-regular workers among South Korea's wage earners reached a record high of 38.5 percent in August, the data ministry said Wednesday, with their wage gap with regular workers also reaching a new record. The total number of non-regular workers came to 8.67 million as of August, up from 8.56 million a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. South Korea…",
  "key_points": [
    "Non-regular workers in South Korea reached record high in August",
    "Share of non-regular workers rose to 38.5% from 38.2% in 2022",
    "8.67 million non-regular workers, highest since 2003 data collection"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The rising proportion of non-regular employees signals a growing reliance on precarious employment structures across South Korea, particularly within the health and social welfare sectors.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Share of non-regular workers hits highest level since 2003 in Aug.: data",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/share-of-non-regular-workers-hits-highest-level-since-2003-in-aug-data-15846801",
        "published": "2026-10-21T05:02:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}