Within just the span of a year,… the number of temporary workers, previously on the decline, has been on the rise. So what′s behind this sudden increase? Shin Se-min takes a look. Three out of ten paid workers in Korea,… are temporary workers. As of August this year, the number of temporary workers reached over six-point-two million,… accounting for 32-and-a-half percent of total workers…a figure that exceeds the OECD average of 22. The average monthly salary for or temporary workers was just over one-thousand two hundred eighty-eight dollars,… slightly more than half of what regular workers would earn. And while regular workers′ salaries rose three-and-a-half percent,… that of temporary workers barely inched up one-percent. Among the temporary workers,… the number of hourly, contingent and non-standard workers,… increased compared to the previous year. ″What′s interesting to note,... is that the growth of temporary workers was led by women and those aged 60 and over. The reason? Former business owners opting for quick employment after going out of business.″ The National Tax Service says that on average, there are approximately 960- new businesses being opened annually, but that an overwhelming majority…. 800-thousand… end up going out of business. The current job market is also causing many to lose their footing. ″At this stage, I can only do so much. So I′m just thankful to be working.″ ″We just have to bite the bullet. With my contract nearing its end, I′m worried how I should restructure my career.″ But it′s a crisis foreseen. ″The gap hasn′t narrowed. Government′s goal of expanding employment has sidetracked,… because the employment surged,… on the back of booming hourly-paid workers,... a crisis that will only distort our already imbalanced job market.″ Adding that the overuse of the labor and the discrimination against temporary workers on their welfare front,… is the most dire issue among the workforce,…. experts add the need to shrink the temporary working population is imminent. Shin Se-min, Arirang News.