Sluggish business conditions have caused a sharp rise in layoffs and involuntary retirements in South Korea’s labor market, a government report showed Sunday.

According to data by Statistics Korea, 27.0 percent of people who had to leave work this year cited downturns in the business environment and outright closures of workplaces because of poor sales and earnings.

This is a rise of 7.8 percentage points from 19.2 percent who had to leave work for the same reasons in 2006.

The latest findings also showed 7.9 percent of people laid off had to leave work under an early retirement plan, or be dismissed outright because the company that hired them had to downsize to cope with less work. This is a rise from 4.5 percent six years earlier, it said.

The statistical agency said 34.9 percent of elderly workers were forced to retire, even if they still wanted to hold onto their jobs, while those opting for retirement to enjoy life dropped from 15.8 percent to 8.0 percent in the cited period.

The data showed that only 10.9 percent of all workers retired from their jobs after reaching the mandatory retirement age, down from 12.0 percent, with more and more people forced to leave work seeking new employment compared to the past.

The agency’s report, meanwhile, showed the average period a worker stayed at a single job stood at 19.7 years as of May, down from 20.9 years tallied in 2006.

The average for male workers stood at 22.9 years, with numbers for women hitting 16.6 years. Both numbers are down from 23.5 years and 18.3 years tallied in 2006. (Yonhap News)