Nearly 84,000 non-direct workers are employed by the top five construction firms in South Korea, which is 2.8 times the number of directly hired employees and accounts for almost three-quarters of the total reported workforce. This indicates a significant reliance on external personnel in large construction projects.
According to an analysis by Aju Economy of data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the total number of non-direct workers at major construction companies, including Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Construction, GS Construction, Hyundai Engineering, and Daewoo Construction, is 83,881.
These companies have directly hired 30,067 employees. The proportion of non-direct workers among the total reported workforce of 113,948 is 73.6%, meaning that for every direct hire, there are approximately 2.8 non-direct workers.
Non-direct workers are those who do not have a direct employment contract with the reporting company but are employed by other businesses to perform tasks at the company's job sites, including subcontracted and service personnel. This classification does not imply that all non-direct workers are irregular employees. In the construction industry, even if multiple job sites are located far apart, a single corporation can aggregate employment data across sites for reporting purposes. Therefore, these figures compare the total reported workforce by company rather than by individual job site.
By company, Hyundai Construction has the highest number of non-direct workers at 30,612, which is 4.4 times its 6,893 directly hired employees. The proportion of non-direct workers among its total reported workforce is 81.6%, the highest among the five companies.
GS Construction employs 5,297 direct workers and 15,852 non-direct workers, making the ratio of external personnel to direct hires nearly 3 to 1. Hyundai Engineering has 1,788 direct hires and 6,071 non-direct workers, a ratio of 3.4 to 1, while Daewoo Construction has 5,244 direct hires and 13,677 non-direct workers, a ratio of 2.6 to 1.
Samsung Heavy Industries has the largest number of directly hired employees at 10,845, with 17,669 non-direct workers, which is 1.6 times the number of direct hires. Despite variations among companies, all five have more non-direct workers than directly hired employees.
The number of non-direct workers in the construction industry is decreasing. This year, the total number of non-direct workers at construction companies with over 300 employees is 182,000, down by 16,000 from the previous year. Industry experts attribute this decline to a reduction in work due to a sluggish construction market and the participation of specialized firms in various construction tasks.
The proportion of temporary workers is also relatively high compared to other industries. Among nine major construction firms, temporary workers number 16,456, accounting for 31.2% of the total. This is 2.9 percentage points higher than the overall proportion of temporary workers (28.3%) reported this year. Companies with the highest proportions include Lotte Construction (45.3%), POSCO E&C (41.1%), Daewoo Construction (34.8%), DL E&C (32.8%), and Hyundai Construction (31.9%).
A representative from one construction firm stated, “The subcontracting production method, where specialized firms share the work, is common, leading to a structurally higher number of non-direct workers compared to other industries.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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