• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-39
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• 2006

This paper documents the increase in earnings variability (or earnings risk) during the 1990s in Korea, and investigates whether it can be accounted for by capital market opening. The variances of transitory and permanent innovations in earnings are estimated from repeated cross-section data using a simple econometric framework. The increasing time-series pattern of earnings risk among men follows the increased foreign capital presence reasonably well, but the supporting cross-sectional evidence for a causal relationship between the two is weak. However, foreign direct investment (FDI) is found to have had some non-neutral effects on workers of varying skills in such a way that transitory earnings risk of less-skilled workers relatively increased with FDI. To the extent that transitory innovations are not fully insured, this widening effect of FDI on earnings risk gap may have contributed to widening welfare gap between skilled and unskilled workers in Korea, at least in terms of "risks."

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.119-148
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• 2007

Foreign outsourcing, otherwise known as off-shoring, has become a matter of intense public debate and great concern in both developed countries and developing countries. Yet, there is a lack of good data on foreign outsourcing since the early 1990's. This paper presents updated measures of foreign outsourcing for the recent period. Its main findings are that the share of foreign-sourced goods in total manufactured inputs almost doubled-from 12.4 percent to 22.7 percent between 1987 and 2003. I then look at the relationship between the measure of foreign outsourcing activity and wages in US manufacturing industries in recent years from 1998 to 2003. The results show that for all workers, the outsourcing level is statistically significantly and negatively associated with industry wage premiums. The estimate suggests that a magnitude of 0.9 - a 9% decrease in industry wage premiums tends to accompany a 10% increase in industry outsourcing level. Outsourcing has a bigger effect on the less-skilled workers-industry outsourcing level increases by 10% and industry wage premiums decrease by about 11% in the case of less-skilled workers.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.86-93
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• 2019

Despite the fact that the construction industry demands a good quality of skilled labors, most of the labors have been nurtured through apprenticeship, without a systematic education. Despite Institutions has been conducted government-funded education and training programs, the number of new workers released through the educational institutions is not up to the demand of the construction sites, and only few construction workers take government-funded education program. This study analyzed the current status and problems of government-funded education and training, to derive problems and illustrates key improvements in the education system. The improvement measures were presented to improve the cost-side difficulties analyzed by major problems and improvements. As a result, this study aids to activate government-funded education and training.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.128-134
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• 2019

In shipbuilding, accurate fabrication of curved hull plates is one of the most important steps, since the shape of ship hull, which is very critical in the overall performance of a ship, is a collection of such plates. The curved hull plates forming process requires a significant amount of time by skilled workers in shipbuilding. In general, the workers cause thermal distortion in the plate and forming initial shape using gas heat source. So shipbuilding companies need skilled workers who have long experience. To solve the problem, a lot of researchers tried to develop automation system for curved hull plates. In this paper, we propose automatic heating system with gantry robot, high frequency induction heater to replace the gas heat source and automatic measurement system. We apply the system to forming concave type plate that is actually used in ship manufacturing. In addition, a system was developed to automatically generate heating information, such as the heating location and the heating speed, for actual heating process. Then the system was applied to the actual heating material. It is shown that the proposed triangle heating pattern makes desired concave shape successfully. The induction heating system showed that it can be used for automation system of curved hull plates forming process replacing gas heat source.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.113-141
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• 2000

The aim of this paper is to project the state of the labor farce and employment in Korea from 2000 to 2005. The labor market in Korea is experiencing significant changes with the rapid development of Information and Telecommunication Technology (ICT) and the transition of the Korean economy into a knowledge-based economy. On the labor supply side, it is expected that the growth of the labor force will be sluggish; baby boomers will become the middle-aged, while the proportion of senior citizens, the highly educated and the female labor force will grow fast. These changes will alter the human resources management system in business sectors. Moreover, the permanent employment relationship, the hierarchy system and the seniority-based wage system are all expected to change. On the labor demand side, the employment share in highly skilled. knowledge-intensive industries will grow faster than the rest of the economy in tandem with the quickly growing output share of these industries. Especially, more jobs will be created in the ICT industries. The proportion of labor in highly skilled and professional occupations will also grow faster than in other occupations. At the same time, the employment share of female workers will grow more quickly than that of the male workers. These changes, however, may worsen income inequalities and/or increase the unemployment rate when workers do not have the suitable skills or knowledge required by the knowledge-based economy. To avoid this, it is necessary for the government to build up a lifetime learning system for workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.504-511
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• 2019

Objectives: We evaluated the physical and mental health problems of waged workers in Korea who had different classes of occupation. Methods: We used data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2017) to examine 22,788 workers who were waged employees and categorized these workers into 5 occupational classes. Results: "Unskilled manual workers" were more likely to be older, less educated, have lower monthly income, and work fewer hours per week. Among men and relative to "managers and professionals" (reference group), "skilled manual workers" were more likely to have physician-diagnosed osteoarthritis, "clerks" were less likely to report suicidal ideation, and "unskilled manual workers" were more likely to report suicidal ideation. Among women and relative to "managers and professionals" (reference group), "service and sales workers" and "unskilled manual workers" were more likely to report physician-diagnosed osteoarthritis, depressive feelings, and suicidal ideation. However, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases did not differ among the occupational classes for men and women. Conclusion: We identified differences between men and women and among those in different occupational classes regarding employment status, physical health, and mental health. "Unskilled manual workers" of both genders were more likely to be older, less educated, have less monthly income, work fewer hours per week, and have suicidal ideation. Female "service and sales workers" were more likely to have osteoarthritis, depressive feelings, and suicidal ideation.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.73-107
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the characteristics of the social relations of migrant workers in the Ansan area and the factors for the construction of those characteristics. The social relations of migrant workers in the Ansan area are affected by the Korean government's policy of EPS, a short-term rotation policy and its ban on the settlement of migrant workers. These workers are likely to form a temporary and bounded social relationship. The bounded social relationship of migrant workers to society is one of the major factors that put them in social poverty. Ethnic communities, support organizations for migrant workers, and local government agencies have assumed the task of helping build the network among migrant workers of various ethnic backgrounds as well as aiding their participation in local social activities. The status of a temporary resident is the prime reason for spatial exclusion and social poverty among migrant workers. To prevent the exacerbation of these phenomena, this study suggests that the government reconsider its short-term work permit policy for less skilled workers.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.520-527
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• 2019

In this study, the technical level and competence of Chungbuk region manufactures were diagnosed and implications for efficiency improvement of cooperation with local universities were derived. The results are as follow. First, in Chungbuk area, 75% of the skilled workers are medium-skilled and high skilled workers. And the life cycle of production products was found to have entered middle/old age. In addition, the industries were overestimating its technology capabilities, including marketing and sales technology, and management technology. Therefore, local universities should develop differentiated program such as technology transfer and commercialization support so that companies can nurture new industries and it is necessary to improve understanding of reality and future prediction ability through various education and seminars. Second, universities in Chungbuk province have failed to meet the practical demands of industry by providing general educational programs such as lifelong education curriculum, rather than the practical training required by industry. First of all, industries needed the practical training programs such as human resource empowerment, technical education and workers' retraining for local industry development. In addition, industries were expected to provide relevant knowledge and infrastructure such as testing, analysis, participation in technology development such as commissioning and joint research. Therefore, universities should prepare customized Industry-Academia Cooperation Programs through industry demand survey in planning. Also, it is necessary to establish various connection points with industry to ensure that industry-academia cooperation will continue and achieve results. Third, the technology of the industries in Chungbuk province was found to be very unrelated to the next generation regional strategic industries. This is not shared vision between industry and local government, Industry-Academia Cooperation Programs will serve as a platform to organize various community entities. Universities will be able to play a key role in between industries and local governments.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.3-20
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• 2019

This review aimed to identify risk factors for occupational accidents and illnesses among young workers in the Nordic countries and to attain knowledge on specific vulnerable groups within the young working force that may need special attention. We conducted a systematic review from 1994 to 2014 using five online databases. Of the 12,528 retrieved articles, 54 met the review criteria and were quality assessed, in which data were extracted focusing on identifying occupational safety, health risk factors, and vulnerable groups among the young workers. The review shows that mechanical factors such as heavy lifting, psychosocial factors such as low control over work pace, and organizational factors such as safety climate are all associated with increased injury risk for young Nordic workers. Results show that exposures to chemical substances were associated with skin reactions, e.g., hand eczema. Heavy lifting and awkward postures were risk factors for low back pain, and high job demands were risk factors for mental health outcomes. The review identified young unskilled workers including school drop-out workers as particularly vulnerable groups when it comes to occupational accidents. In addition, apprentices and young skilled workers were found to be vulnerable to work-related illnesses. It is essential to avoid stereotyping young Nordic workers into one group using only age as a factor, as young workers are a heterogeneous group and their vulnerabilities to occupational safety and health risks are contextual. Politicians, researchers, and practitioners should account for this complexity in the education, training and organization of work, and workplace health and safety culture.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.476-482
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• 2023

Introduction: There is a growing global interest in the issue of precarious employment. We aimed to analyze the characteristics and socio-demographic distribution of precarious employment using a summative score approach. Methods: To operationalize precarious employment, we utilized data from the Korean Working Conditions Survey and focused on three distinct dimensions: employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and a lack of rights and protections. By constructing a summative scale ranging from -16 to 2, with lower scores indicating higher precariousness, we measured employment precariousness among Korean wage workers. To compare employment precariousness according to survey participant characteristics, we employed the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test. Results: We analyzed a weighted number of 38,432 workers. The overall sample showed a median (Q1, Q3) summative scale score of -3 (-6, -1). The median summative score was lower for women compared to men (men: -2; women: -5; p < 0.001), as well as for young or older workers compared to middle-aged workers (young: -4; middle-aged: -2; older: -5; p < 0.001). Similarly, workers with lower educational levels (middle school or below: -8; high school: -5; college or above: -2; p < 0.001) and non-white collar workers (blue collar: -5; service/sales worker: -6; white collar: -2; p < 0.001) experienced higher levels of employment precariousness. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that certain vulnerable groups, such as women, young or older adults, workers with low educational attainment, and caregiving or low-skilled elementary workers, are disproportionately exposed to high employment precariousness. Active policy interventions are needed to improve the employment quality of vulnerable groups.