Job mobility of non-regular workers in the segmented labor markets: A cross-national comparison of South Korea and Japan

Abstract

This study compares the job mobility of non-regular workers in segmented labor markets between South Korea and Japan. Our analysis, drawing upon the comparable survey data sets (KLIPS and SSM) of the two countries, demonstrates that non-regular employment in both countries does not play a role of stepping stones to move toward decent regular jobs, but that of a 'dead-end' trap. The opportunity structure of job mobility has been commonly segmented by the fractured line of non-regular employment in the two countries, while the level of polarization is much more intensified in Japan than in Korea. Such factors as gender and education show contrasting patterns in influencing the job mobility of non-regular workers in the two countries. This finding implies that the Asian Market Economy of Japan and Korea, where the governments commonly implemented neoliberal labor reforms during the past two decade, has approached to the individualist mobility regime having fragmented and unstable employment practices.