SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korean manufacturers planned to expand employment next year, a central bank survey showed Monday.
Over half of polled companies replied that they had a plan to hire employees, with over one third of the companies having hiring a scheme planning to expand employment, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The result was based on a survey of 279 domestic manufacturers, including 101 big companies and 178 small firms, conducted from Aug. 14 to Sept. 4.
Among the respondents, 52.3 percent said they had plans to hire workers next year, 4.6 percentage points higher than the companies having no hiring scheme.
Among the companies having a hiring scheme, 38.9 percent said it would expand the number of employment next year, much higher than 16 percent replying that they would shrink the number of employment though planning to hire more workers.
By industry, 70 percent of companies in the information technology (IT) sector planned to hire workers in 2018. The figure for the petrochemical and oil-refining industry was 61.5 percent.
Chipmakers of South Korea, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, posted record earnings in recent months thanks to higher prices and strong demand for chips used in smartphones.
The percentage of companies, which had a plan to recruit more employees next year, was 47.7 percent in the car industry, 40 percent in the machinery and equipment sector and 35 percent for steelmakers.
