S. Korea sees record number of delivery workers amid pandemic

With people preferring delivery services to abide by social distancing rules during the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea saw a record number of delivery workers last year, data showed Wednesday.

The total number of delivery workers here gained 11.8 percent on-year to a record 390,000 as of end-December, Statistics Korea data showed.

Those who are classified as delivery workers here are letter carriers, couriers, those who work for food delivery services, newspaper deliverers and more.

The number of delivery workers stood at 322,000 as of end 2013. It hovered in the range of 310,000 to 350,000 from 2014 to 2019 then jumped to 371,000 in the first half of last year.

Buoyed by virus-wary customers deciding to stay home during the pandemic, the value of online and mobile food delivery services jumped 78.6 percent on-year to 17.4 trillion won ($15 billion).

The nation’s e-commerce giant Coupang’s annual revenue nearly doubled last year from the previous year. It reported 13.9 trillion won in sales, compared with 7.1 trillion won the previous year, according to the company’s regulatory filing. Coupang debuted on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year.

On top of it, the nation’s 18 courier companies handled nearly 3.38 billion items last year, up 21 percent on-year, according to the data, which was submitted to and released by a lawmaker.

“In the post-COVID era, the job market and the industries face changes focused on increase in jobs that doesn’t require face-to-face contact,” Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the ruling Democratic Party said.

“The government should come up with measures that won’t put economic pressure on the disadvantaged due to the changes in the work environment,” she added.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)