Wage-worker jobs in semiconductor manufacturing rose 14.5% to a record 174,000 in the first quarter, outpacing manufacturing's 1.6% increase from the first quarter of 2018. Employment has increased for two consecutive years after declining 1.8% in the first quarter of 2024. New hires fell 21.6% to 29,000 over the same period, and their share of sector employment dropped from 24.3% to 16.7%. Purely new positions declined 25% to 15,000, while continuing jobs reached a record 146,000. The Bank of Korea's 2023 employment-inducing coefficient for semiconductors was 2.4 jobs per 1 billion Korean won of output or input, below the overall industry average of 8.2 and manufacturing's 5.1, reflecting the sector's capital intensity and reliance on automation.