The Korean Economic Forum
An Analysis of the Relationship between Industrial Production Activities and the Supply and Demand of Industrial Labor
Youngmin Kim (Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade) and Jaehan Cho (Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade)Year 2021Vol. 14No. 2
Abstract
This paper empirically analyzes the relationship between industrial production activities and the supply and demand of industrial technical labor to derive implications for systematized industrial labor training policy. The main results of the empirical analysis suggest that overall, the supply and demand of technical industrial labor in Korea is less imbalanced than it once was. However, they also suggest that the imbalanced supply and demand of industrial technical labor with postgraduate degrees has actually worsened. In addition, increases in industrial production activities such as investment in improved corporate performance and competitiveness was shown to further exacerbate the imbalance and this was particularly notable in the market for highly-educated technical labor. Based on the above results, this study identifies a need to supply industrial technical labor in response to changes in the corporate investment and production environment.