The number of regular workers hired by South Korea's top 10 business groups edged up in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier as they try to hire more employees on a stable employment contract, industry data showed Monday.

According to the data provided by market tracker Chaebul.com, 96 listed affiliates of the country's 10 largest conglomerates in terms of assets hired 618,288 regular workers at the end of the first quarter, up 8,774, or 1.4 percent, from a year earlier.

By gender, the number of male regular workers came to 493,652, up 0.9 percent from a year earlier, while their female counterparts grew 0.5 percent over the cited period to 124,636.

Lotte Group saw the number of regular workers at its affiliates increase by 12.7 percent over the same period. The rise stemmed mostly from Lotte Shopping, where about 4,700 irregular workers were turned into regular ones.

Hyundai Motor Group, which has Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. under its wing, also hired 3,535, or 2.8 percent, more regular workers than a year earlier. Samsung Group posted a 1.1 percent increase in regular workers on its payroll.

Of the 10 business groups surveyed, however, four companies hired less regular workers as they sought corporate restructuring following lackluster earnings.

Steelmaking giant POSCO saw its regular workers decline by 673, or 3 percent on-year, to 23,962. Hanjin Group, the operator of South Korea's No. 1 airline, Korean Air Lines Co., hired 23,147 regular workers, down 462, or 2 percent, from a year earlier, the data showed. (Yonhap)