• Starting in 2015, the standard for identifying small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was changed from the number of employees or capital to sales.

- The WPS (workplace panel survey) has been providing variables for the identification of small businesses since 2015, when the changed small business standard was applied.

• The difference between the existing identification standard of less than 300 employees and the new identification standard is not small.

- According to the new identification standard, between 38.0% and 52.5% of businesses with 300 or more employees are small businesses, a significant difference from the existing employment size standard.

• Large and SMEs identified using the WPS data have the following differences in employment characteristics.

- In 2021, the share of SMEs in the manufacturing sector is 35.4%, more than double the share of large enterprises (16.4%), and the share of non-unionized SMEs is 12.9%, significantly lower than the share of large enterprises (33.7%).

- The average employment size is 226.1 persons in large manufacturing enterprises and 63.5 persons in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises.

- The proportion of female employees in SMEs is lower than in large enterprises, and the proportion of women among employees at managerial level and above is also lower than in large enterprises.

- In terms of occupational distribution, the share of production and elementary jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises is about twice as high as in large enterprises, the share of service and sales jobs is about half as high, and the share of professional and clerical workers ranges from 4.4%p (2021) to 9.0%p (2015).

- The aging of the workforce can be observed in both sectors, but it is faster in small and medium-sized enterprises.

- The turnover rate of small and medium-sized enterprises is slightly higher than that of large enterprises, but there is no significant difference in involuntary turnover, but there is a difference in voluntary turnover.