Half of non-regular workers in Korea were employed for less than six months, earning about half the wages of regular staff during that time.

According to a report released Monday by the Korea Labor Institute, the average duration of employment for non-regular workers, including temporary, part-time and subcontract workers, came in at 23.6 months as of August last year, less than a third of that for regular workers, which was 77.3 months.

Employment lasted for less than six months for 50.6 percent of non-regular workers.

The report also revealed a decline in the average wage of non-regulars in comparison to regulars, pointing to the deteriorating working conditions of non-regular workers, which accounted for a third of Korea’s total labor force last year.

Non-regulars’ monthly pay, measured as a percentage of the average of regular workers, stood at 54.8 percent as of the end of August 2010. In 2002, the ratio was 67.1 percent.

More than 5.6 million Koreans were categorized as being in non-regular employment last year, such as temporary, part-time and subcontract employments.

“The wage and employment period of non-regular workers is largely affected by economic conditions,” Seong Jae-min, a researcher at the institute, explained in the report.

In September, the government and the ruling Grand National Party unveiled a set of measures intended to improve working conditions for non-regular workers, but the plan was met with criticism from both employers and labor groups.

The envisioned steps call for the government to pay one-third of premiums for unemployment insurance and national pension for non-regular workers.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)