The number of employees in the nation’s top 500 companies surged by more than 12-thousand in the first half of the year after many firms expanded hiring.

According to data processed by local business tracker CEO Score on Wednesday, the number of employees at such firms stood at one-point-55 million in the first six months of the year, up one-and-a-half percent from the same period last year.

The website estimated that the surveyed firms hired a net 12-thousand-493 employees during the January-to-June period. It came to the figure after subtracting the number of their employees who had lost eligibility for company-sponsored national pension payments from those who acquired such eligibility in the studied time frame.

The website said such firms apparently expanded hiring amid signs that the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually abating. 

The tracking website looked at 459 of the top 500 firms in terms of sales, and based its assessment on the total number of national pension subscribers from those companies as of June.

In its analysis, CEO Score excluded 41 firms that had seen a change of more than ten percent in their staff numbers due to mergers or demergers.