Businesses with five or more permanent employees plan to hire 24 percent more workers in the six-month period ending in September than they did in the same period last year, the labor ministry said Tuesday.

The companies planned to hire 296,000 people in the second and third quarters, up 58,000, or 24.2 percent, from the corresponding period last year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, citing a survey of around 32,000 businesses with five or more permanent employees.

The increase is likely due to signs of an economic recovery and the base effect from cutting hiring last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is the largest number since 2018 when firms planned to hire 314,000 workers in the second and third quarters.

Industries with the biggest hiring plans are the manufacturing industry, which aims for 93,000 new workers, followed by the transportation and warehouse industry at 36,000 and health and social welfare services at 34,000.

According to a separate survey by the ministry, nearly 18.7 million people were working for businesses with one or more employees as of the last day of May, up 350,000, or 1.9 percent, from the same month last year.

The number has increased in all three months since March.

The largest increase in May was in health and social welfare services at 114,000, followed by education services at 68,000 and science and technology services at 56,000.

The food and hotel business, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, lost 37,000 workers in the 16th consecutive month of decline. (Yonhap)