Tumbling exports feared to spark huge job losses

SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's plunging exports are likely to lead to
massive job losses, a private think tank said Sunday, calling for measures to
retain payrolls at export industries.
In a report on the impact of falling exports on employment, Hyundai Research
Institute estimated that if South Korea's exports fall 30 percent annually this
year, about one million jobs will be lost after a year.
Most job losses will take place at South Korea's nine key export industries such
as steel, cars, shipbuilding and semiconductors, it said.
In light of that, the think tank said the government should take measures to help
exporting companies retain their payrolls and provide more tax breaks to
companies that do not eliminate jobs.
In addition, the government should delay the overhaul of public companies, so
that they could absorb workers fired by private companies, it said.
The dire report comes as South Korea's exports plunged 33.8 percent on-year to
US$21.4 billion last month on plunging overseas demand and shorter working days
due to the Lunar New Year holiday. January's export drop was the steepest since
the country started announcing monthly tallies in 1980.
Experts warn that South Korea's overseas shipments will inevitably drop sharply
this year as the result of the severe global economic downturn.
The current economic slowdown took a toll on the nation's employment. The
nation's jobless rate rose to 3.6 percent in January from 3.3 percent the
previous month, according to data by the National Statistical Office.
The economy shed 103,000 jobs in January from a year earlier, marking the
steepest loss since October 2003 when 189,000 jobs disappeared, the data showed.
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