The number of social enterprises certified by the government has reached over 3,000, with a majority of the firms committed to providing jobs to underprivileged people, according to officials Sunday.
The labor ministry's expert committee on social enterprise development on Wednesday certified 97 businesses as new government-approved social enterprises, bringing the total number of social companies in the country up to 3,064.
The 3,000-mark milestone was reached in 14 years since the government certification program was introduced in 2007. The number of social businesses has nearly doubled since the start of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2017.
The number of companies that offer jobs to low-income people stood at 2,036, or over half of social enterprises. Businesses contributing to regional communities through welfare services and child care were tallied at 249.
In terms of recruitment, 55,407 were employed by social enterprises last year, up 12.9 percent from 2019. Of those, 33,206 were either physically disabled people, senior citizens or those who came from low-income backgrounds.
The average monthly wage of workers at such companies in 2020 rose 5.8 percent on-year to 2.03 million won ($1,730). The companies' accumulated sales figure in 2020 stood at 5.3 trillion won, up 9.9 percent from a year ago. (Yonhap)
