JobKorea said on Sept. 14 it has published its "Second Half of 2026 JobKorea Money Report: How to Spend Money That Determines Hiring Performance", which analyses how companies execute hiring budgets.

The company said the report diagnoses first-half hiring results, budget execution, second-half budget plans and response priorities by situation, based on a survey of 580 companies.

The report said 24.7 percent of companies "mostly achieved" their first-half hiring targets. Companies that hired "only some" were the largest group at 50.7 percent. Another 17.1 percent said their performance was "insufficient."

Second-half hiring budgets tilted toward "maintaining" rather than "increasing." Companies planning to keep budgets at the same level as the first half accounted for 70.5 percent, the largest share. Those planning "cuts or suspension" totaled 17.0 percent, 4.5 percentage points more than "expansion or new spending" at 12.5 percent.

Within limited budgets, companies prioritised "fit" over "scale." Some 81.4 percent of respondents ranked "securing suitable applicants who match the job" as their first or second priority, higher than "cost-effectiveness" at 62.5 percent. "Number of applicants" came to 25.5 percent.

The report also covers checklists by situation that HR and recruitment managers may face, including when budgets shrink, when desired talent is missed and when early resignations increase.

Eun-hye Jeong (정은혜), head of the Insight Strategy Team at Worksphere, said hiring budget standards are shifting from "how much to spend" to "what to spend to obtain." "As each company needs different talent and faces different hiring tasks, there is no single right answer for budget operation. Setting priorities based on data has become that much more important," she said.