About 43% of listed South Korean firms cut workforce in 2021

The prolonged coronavirus pandemic has forced about four in 10 South Korean listed companies to trim the number of their employees in 2021, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI). The private think tank said a survey of 1,874 firms listed on the country's main and minor bourses showed 43.1% slashing their workforce last year. The proportion of job-cutting listed companies in 2021 was down from 52% in 2020 and was also lower than 44.3% in 2019 before the outbreak of COVID-19. Nearly 27% of those companies pared down their workforce in 2021 for the second consecutive year.