Characteristics of Employment in the Manufacturing Industry and a Review of Job Creating Subsectors

Eunsun Gil ()
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Eunsun Gil: Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Postal: Sejong National Research Complex, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, 370 Sicheong Dae-ro C-dong 8-12F 30147, Republic of Korea, http://www.kiet.re.kr

No 21/15, i-KIET Issues and Analysis from Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade

Abstract: While overall production of the manufacturing industry has contracted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, total employment levels have not undergone a major adjustment. Unlike the service industry, which saw an immediate reduction in employment, the manufacturing industry has more-or-less maintained the scale of its employment. This property of manufacturing employment has served as a buffer against short-term production shocks and has helped limit the negative spillover effects on the labor market. Generally, employment in the manufacturing industry is not sensitive to short-term economic downturns. However, when the production outlook deteriorates for the longer term, major reductions in employment follow. Once large-scale restructuring occurs, industrial employment seldom rebounds thereafter. To boost job creation in the manufacturing industry, this study proposes independently classifying relevant manufacturing subsectors as 'job creators,' independent of and distinguished from existing sectoral categorizations as 'new industries' or 'leading export industries.' Job policies in the private sector should thus target these job creators, identified as such for their high potential to produce net employment growth.

Keywords: manufacturing; COVID-19; employment; labor; labor economics; business cycle; recession; employment shocks; job creation; employment policy; job creation policy; labor policy; manufacturing policy; Korea; employment growth; job growth; class mobility; social mobility; inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 E32 H25 H32 J08 J21 J22 J23 J31 J38 J62 L60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2021-07-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:kietia:2021_015

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