Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on March 23rd that domestic ventures and startups have outpaced all companies in employment growth rate, contributing to the social advancement of young people and women. According to the “2022 Employment Trends for Ventures and Startups” report, 33,000 domestic ventures and startups employed a total of 746,000 people as of the end of last year, showing an increase of 8.1% (56,000 people) from the previous year.
The report revealed that among venture and startup companies, the year-on-year increase in employment at 2,000 companies that received venture investment from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups was 29.8% (19,000 people), which is about 12 times higher than that of all companies. Ventures and startups have also been found to employ a relatively large number of young people and women.
Last year, Ventures and startups hired 198,000 young people, showing an increase of 3.6% (6,800 people) from the previous year. This is significant, given the 1.2% decrease in youth employment at companies due to a decrease in the youth population, an increase in the age of entry into society, and a decrease in new employment. During the same period, venture startups employed 243,105 women. This is three times higher than the female employment growth rate (2.9%) of all companies.
In the case of employment status by industry, content and digital venture startups showed high employment growth rates. It seems that the global box office success of ‘K- content’ had an impact. This was followed by game (14.9%), ICT service (12.3%), distribution service (10.0%).
In particular, it was found that the scale of employment in venture startups that received investment, regardless of industry or field, increased relatively significantly. The employment growth rate of venture companies that received venture investment was 16.5% compared to last year, 2.5 to 4 times higher than other types of venture companies.
However, regarding the point that the number of venture startups decreased in 2021 compared to the end of 2020, which was dismissed it as “a problem that occurred while reorganizing the venture certification system in 2021.” Overall, the report highlights the positive impact of domestic ventures and startups on the job market and their contribution.
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