"COVID-19 Driven Youth Employment Crisis"... 38% Surge in Unemployment Benefit Applicants Under Age 29

On the 10th, citizens are entering the unemployment benefits briefing room at the Seoul Employment Welfare Plus Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The number of young people under the age of 29 who newly applied for unemployment benefits last month increased by nearly 40%. This is attributed to the fact that companies have reduced or postponed new hires due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), blocking employment opportunities.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 14th, the number of new job-seeker benefit applicants under the age of 29 last month was 20,500, a 37.9% increase compared to the same month last year.

Last month, new job-seeker benefit applicants increased across all age groups, but the growth rate was highest among those under 29. This was followed by those in their 50s (34.9%), 60 and older (31.4%), 40s (28.8%), and 30s (23.4%).

Job-seeker benefits are allowances paid from the employment insurance fund to unemployed individuals actively seeking jobs, accounting for the majority of unemployment benefits.

Combining new job-seeker benefit applicants under 29 and those in their 30s amounts to 42,000 people, accounting for 38.0% of the total (110,600). This means that 4 out of 10 new job-seeker benefit applicants are young people aged 30 or younger.

The youth employment difficulties are analyzed to be due to companies facing management difficulties and uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 crisis, leading to reductions or postponements in new hiring.

By industry, the largest number of new job-seeker benefit applicants last month was in manufacturing with 22,200 people. This was followed by wholesale and retail trade (14,400), construction (13,500), business services including travel (11,900), and health and welfare (10,000).

The industry with the highest year-on-year increase rate in new job-seeker benefit applicants was accommodation and food services (61.4%). This sector was hit hard by avoidance of face-to-face contact and social distancing measures due to COVID-19. Transportation (53.3%), manufacturing (35.4%), and business services (35.2%) also showed high growth rates.

Last month, the number of new job openings posted by companies through the public employment support portal 'Worknet' was 144,000, a 22.8% decrease compared to the same month last year. The number of new job applications increased by 6.2% to 344,000. This indicates that while labor supply increased, demand sharply declined, freezing the labor market.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.