Gyeonggi-do Sees Drop in Employment Growth Rate... Slowdown in Healthcare Industry Cited as Cause

It has been analyzed that the recent slowdown in employment growth in Gyeonggi-do is due to a deceleration in the employment expansion within the healthcare industry, which had previously been experiencing rapid growth. This phenomenon is explained as stemming from the healthcare sector's waning growth rather than sluggish employment in the social welfare field or policy changes.

The Job Research Center at the Gyeonggi-do Job Foundation published a report on August 6 titled "Analysis of the Causes Behind the Recent Decline in Employment Growth in Business, Personal, and Public Services in Gyeonggi-do."

According to the report, in the first quarter of this year (January to March), the number of employed persons in Gyeonggi-do’s business, personal, and public service industries decreased by 24,000 compared to the same period last year, resulting in a growth rate of -0.8%. Consequently, the overall employment growth rate in Gyeonggi-do remained at just 0.2%. In contrast, nationwide, the number of employees in business, personal, and public services increased by 249,000, up 2.0%, and the overall employment growth rate across all industries was 0.6%.

Business, personal, and public service industries have been leading domestic employment growth. From 2013 to 2025, the total number of employed persons across all industries increased by 3.47 million, with the business, personal, and public service sectors accounting for 2.81 million of this increase, or 81% of the total. In particular, employment in the healthcare and welfare sectors grew by 1.61 million, making up 46% of the total increase.

The healthcare and welfare industries in Gyeonggi-do have maintained faster growth compared to national averages. From 2015 to 2024, the number of people employed in healthcare and welfare industries nationwide increased by 81%, while Gyeonggi-do saw an 87% rise. In the healthcare sector, including clinics and hospitals, nationwide employment increased by 39%, whereas Gyeonggi-do saw a 58% increase, indicating strong growth.

Gyeonggi-do Job Foundation building exterior

The report analyzes that, as the healthcare industry is a representative service closely connected to residents' daily lives, the more rapid influx of population and income growth in Gyeonggi-do compared to the rest of the country has driven employment expansion.

However, since 2023, the sharp growth in the healthcare sector has slowed, which has also resulted in a lower employment growth rate in Gyeonggi-do in recent periods. In contrast, employment in the social welfare sector continues to increase steadily at a pace similar to other provinces and cities.

The report explains that the recent slowdown in employment growth should be interpreted not as a result of policy changes or job contraction in the social welfare field, but rather as an impact of the fast-growing healthcare sector transitioning to a stabilization phase.

Choi Kyungsoo, Senior Research Fellow at the Job Research Center of the Gyeonggi-do Job Foundation, said, "The recent decline in employment growth in the healthcare and welfare sectors in Gyeonggi-do results from the healthcare industry—mainly hospitals and clinics—growing more rapidly than other regions and then entering a phase of slower growth. Employment in the social welfare sector has not been suppressed by policy factors, and in the metropolitan area, the social welfare infrastructure is already well established, so there is a tendency for the employment growth rate to appear somewhat lower than in non-metropolitan regions."

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