- Registration date2026-01-02
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The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR, Minister JK Kim) announced the results of the 2025 Survey on Supply and Demand of the Industrial Technology Workforce, which was conducted by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) from August 11 to October 24, 2025. The survey covered 21,327 sampled business establishments nationwide with 10 or more employees and collected data on workforce levels and shortages by industry, occupation, and region, as well as recruitment, hiring, and employee separations during 2024.
According to the findings, the total industrial technology workforce reached approximately 1.74 million, representing a 1.1 percent increase from 1.72 million in the previous year and marking the fourth consecutive year of growth.
Employment in the twelve key industries totaled approximately 1.16 million workers, accounting for 66.6 percent of the overall industrial technology workforce.
The semiconductor (up 4.3 percent) and bio-health (up 4.0 percent) industries recorded higher workforce growth than other major sectors.
The shipbuilding industry, after experiencing workforce declines for eight consecutive years, has now recorded increases for the second year in a row, reaching 59,213 workers in 2024 (up 1.2 percent).
Regionally, the industrial technology workforce in the Seoul metropolitan area has accounted for more than half of the national total since 2023, reaching 50.34 percent in 2024, with concentration in the metropolitan area continuing to intensify.
The estimated shortage of industrial technology workers stood at approximately 40,000, representing a 1.6 percent increase from the previous year.
Recruitment and hiring of both experienced workers and new entrants were more prevalent among non-metropolitan establishments. In recruitment, non-metropolitan shares stood at 50.1 percent for experienced workers and 57.8 percent for new entrants, while in hiring, the figures rose to 50.3 percent and 58.6 percent, respectively, exceeding those of the metropolitan area.
The number of employees leaving their jobs declined year-on-year (down 0.7 percent), and the early turnover rate within one year of employment has continued to fall steadily over the past five years.