"I Just Want to Rest Without Doing Anything"... 2030 Giving Up Job Hunting [Heo Midam's Youth Report]

Korea Economic Research Institute "Korean Youth Job Seekers Giving Up Increased 18% in 5 Years"
90% of Job Seekers "Experiencing Burnout Symptoms"
Experts "Employment Market Unlikely to Improve Even with Economic Recovery"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Editor's NoteHow is your youth remembered? From teenagers to college students and office workers, we deliver the joys and sorrows unique to 'youth'?their worries and laughter.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] "I feel like I will fail even if I apply, so I just want to give up everything," "Finding a job is harder than picking stars from the sky."

As the employment market freezes due to the impact of COVID-19, the number of young people unable to find jobs is increasing. Among them, some have continuously knocked on the door of employment but, due to a lack of jobs, have been unable to get hired where they want, leading them to postpone or give up on employment altogether.

Some reports indicate that young people are exhausted from excessive competition to break through the narrowed job market, even experiencing 'burnout syndrome.' 'Burnout syndrome' refers to a state of extreme physical and mental fatigue and lethargy caused by excessive immersion in one task. Experts predict that even if the economy recovers to pre-COVID-19 levels, the employment rate will remain low.

Recently, the Korea Economic Research Institute under the Federation of Korean Industries analyzed the Korean employment market using OECD statistics and data from Statistics Korea. The results showed that the employment rate of Korean youth (ages 15 to 29) was 42.2%, which is 14.6 percentage points lower than the G5 countries (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan) average of 56.8%.

Also, the youth perceived unemployment rate was 25.1%, and the number of young people who gave up job seeking increased by 18.3% in 2020 compared to 2015, reaching 219,000. The main reason for giving up job seeking was 'because there seemed to be no jobs matching the desired wage level or working conditions,' accounting for 33.8%.

A young man is studying in a study room. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Jeon (26), who was preparing to enter a broadcasting company, recently gave up on his dream and is now looking for part-time work. Jeon said, "I think I submitted about 20 applications over several months, but fewer than five places even called me for an interview," adding, "Even when I went to interviews, the competitors' qualifications were so outstanding that I kept wondering, 'Can I really get hired?' After receiving continuous rejection notices, I fell into not just depression but self-loathing and just gave up on employment."

The atmosphere is no better in online communities where job seekers gather. One netizen lamented, "I want to give up on job hunting. I received a rejection notice from a company I applied to today. Living diligently is so hard. I wonder, 'Do I have to live like this?' My self-esteem has completely dropped, and I don't even want to meet friends anymore."

Given this situation, some young people are suffering from burnout syndrome due to endless competition. According to a survey conducted by the job portal 'JobKorea' in June last year targeting 1,858 job seekers about 'job preparation fatigue,' 87.7% of respondents said they had experienced burnout symptoms during their job search.

Jung (25), who identified himself as a 'NEET' (Not in Education, Employment, or Training?a job seeker who has given up on working), sighed. Jung said, "There have always been talks about how hard it is to get a job, but the employment crisis has worsened since COVID-19. Seeing dozens of people crowding to apply for a single internship position, I thought, 'Why did the COVID-19 crisis happen just when I graduated?'"

Especially, the employment shock caused by COVID-19 is concentrated among young people, and there is no sign of improvement in this employment situation.

According to the '2021 Q1 Wage Worker Job Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 26th of last month, the number of wage jobs increased by 321,000 compared to the same period last year, reaching 18,997,000. For those aged 60 and over, wage jobs increased by 292,000 (12.5%) to 2,633,000. Jobs for people in their 40s and 50s were 4,663,000 and 4,254,000, respectively, increasing by 117,000 (2.8%) and 10,000 (0.2%).

On the other hand, the decrease in jobs among young people was notable. Jobs for those under 20s were 3,172,000, down by 35,000 (-1.1%), and jobs for those in their 30s decreased by 63,000 (-1.5%) to 4,275,000.

Experts emphasize that a paradigm shift in the labor market is necessary to solve youth employment problems.

Professor Kim Taegi of Dankook University's Department of Economics said, "Jobs that young people want have long disappeared, and currently, even part-time jobs are scarce. The employment problem for youth is that serious." He added, "Even if the economy recovers, employment recovery will be difficult. Unless the dual-structured labor market problem, such as the presence or absence of labor unions, is fundamentally changed, difficulties in the employment market will continue."

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