This study investigates the post-1997 Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) Korean labour market through the lens of firms’ use of skills and the role of institutions. The post-AFC Korean labour market is highly precarious, as its average job tenure is the shortest among industrialised economies. This is a result of the business strategies used to produce quality products, as well as the institutional environment.

This study sheds light on firm behaviour by bringing together the human resource management literature and institutional theory literature. It focuses on the strategic use of various working arrangements by firm characteristics and examines the effects on resources and institutions.

This study integrates statistical analysis and an in-depth case study. Regression analysis is used to examine the correlations between firm characteristics and various employment types. The case study on online games firms examines how firms that produce quality products have shaped their employment strategy to secure workers with the relevant high skills.

The study demonstrates post-AFC Korean firms’ human resources strategy as a non- permanent use of various working arrangements, including standard employment contracts to undertake core work. As a result of firms’ strategic actions, precarious jobs have also been expanded to highly-skilled workers: the jobs taken by highly skilled workers are now precarious. Finally, the findings raise questions on the labour market dualisation scenario that narrowly focus on policy changes and the adverse effects on low-skilled workers only.