One in Five Young Non-Economically Active Population Are Job Seekers, Highest Ever Recorded

Preparing for Employment After Giving Up Job Search... 859,000 Job Seekers, Highest Since Statistics Began
First Job Duration Increased by 0.7 Months... Monthly Salary 1.5 to 2 Million Won

Job seekers writing resumes at the 'Seoul-type New Deal Job Fair' held at SETEC in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The proportion of youth (aged 15-29) classified as non-economically active population who have been preparing for employment for more than four weeks and thus are excluded from the unemployed category soared to an all-time high as of May. Amid concerns that 'growth without employment' will prolong regardless of COVID-19 prevention measures, it was found that one in four unemployed youth is 'just passing time,' raising worries that the driving force of the Korean economy will weaken. As major companies shift their hiring policies from open recruitment to mostly on-demand recruitment, it has become more difficult for job seekers to secure regular positions, resulting in an increase in the average tenure at first jobs.

According to the 'May 2021 Supplementary Survey on Youth Economic Activity' released by Statistics Korea on the 20th, the youth population as of last May was 8.799 million. Among them, 1.548 million youth who graduated or dropped out of school but could not find jobs were unemployed. Although this number decreased compared to last year's record high of 1.66 million since statistics began in 2007, 386,000 of the unemployed youth, accounting for 24.9% of the total, reported that they were 'just passing time.' Meanwhile, 629,000 youth (40.6%) were engaged in vocational training or preparing for employment.

Among the youth non-economically active population, 859,000 (19.1%) were preparing for employment exams (based on the past week), an increase of 55,000 from a year earlier, marking the highest figure since statistics began. The non-economically active population refers to those aged 15 and over who are neither employed nor actively seeking jobs during the survey period and thus are not classified as unemployed. Among them, employment preparers include those engaged in activities related to employment such as attending academies for job preparation, amid various reasons for non-economic activity such as childcare, old age, or physical/mental disabilities.

Among these, the proportion preparing for general civil service exams was 32.4%, up 4.1 percentage points from a year ago, making it the largest share. This means that three out of ten employment preparers were 'public service exam candidates.' Notably, the proportion of women (34.6%) preparing for civil service exams was higher than that of men (30.4%).

During the same period, the number of employed youth increased by 138,000 to 3.908 million, but this was largely due to the base effect from the previous year. The youth employment rate as of May was 44.4%, up 2.2 percentage points from the same month a year earlier.

The problem is that the youth's future has been statistically proven to be uncertain. The proportion of employment exam preparers among the non-economically active population reached 19.1%, the highest since statistics began in 2006. This indicates that more people are giving up active job searching and instead preparing for employment exams.

It was found that it takes an average of 10.1 months from graduation to first employment. The average tenure at the first job was 1 year and 6.2 months, an increase of 0.7 months over the same period. This suggests that since it is very difficult to find a first job, many who succeed tend to stay longer once employed. However, the wages (income) at the time of first employment were mostly between 1.5 million and 2 million KRW, accounting for 37% of the total. Those earning between 2 million and 3 million KRW accounted for 23.2%, and those earning between 1 million and 1.5 million KRW made up 20%. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the median income for a single-person household is 1,827,831 KRW. This means that the average salary youth receive at their first job is only comparable to the national median income for a single-person household.

The proportion of wage workers who quit their first job was 68%, down 1.6 percentage points from the same month last year. Among the reasons for quitting the first job, dissatisfaction with working conditions such as pay and working hours accounted for the largest share at 46.2%. Personal and family reasons such as health, childcare, and marriage accounted for 14.5%, followed by completion of temporary or seasonal work and contract expiration at 13.2%.

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