73% of Young Job Seekers "Consider Employment at Small and Medium Enterprises"…Preferred Occupations Favor Quick Employment

중기중앙회, 청년 구직자 1200명 대상 '일자리 인식 조사'
SME Central Association Conducts 'Job Perception Survey' Targeting 1,200 Young Job Seekers

Job seekers participating in the '2018 Youth Employment Dodream Job Fair' held at COEX Hall B in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 13th are looking at the recruitment bulletin board. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] It was found that 7 out of 10 young job seekers (73.4%) have considered employment at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 14th the results of the "2022 Youth Job Perception Survey," conducted from the 19th to the 25th of last month targeting 1,200 young job seekers aged 18 to 34.

According to the survey results, 7 out of 10 young job seekers (73.4%) responded that they have considered employment at SMEs. In particular, among respondents, the higher the age (79.4% for those in their 30s and above) and the more work experience they had (82.8%), the higher the response rate indicating consideration of employment at SMEs.

The biggest reason for considering employment at SMEs was "considering employment conditions, quick employment in the desired job field is possible (47.4%)." As a way of preparing for job seeking, "preparing for exams to obtain job-related qualifications (75.4%)" was the highest, followed by "career development such as internships (36.2%)."

In the survey related to recruitment methods, the characteristics of the MZ generation, which values fairness, were revealed in many areas. 61.8% of young job seekers responded that the current document-interview-centered recruitment system is inappropriate, which is 1.6 times higher than the 38.2% who responded that it is appropriate.

The biggest reason for feeling that the document-interview-centered recruitment system is inappropriate was "unfairness in the interview method, such as questions unrelated to the job or evaluation by inexperienced interviewers (46.3%)." Next were "unfair evaluation methods, such as not disclosing the evaluation criteria (24.7%)" and "inappropriate methods of notifying rejection/acceptance (14.4%)."

When asked about the top priority considerations for young people during job seeking, "work-life balance guarantee (33.2%)" was chosen, followed by "wage satisfaction (22.2%)" and "healthy organizational culture and workplace atmosphere (15.0%)."

As "obtaining company information (29.4%)" accounted for the largest proportion of difficulties young job seekers face during job hunting, the need to provide various company information such as organizational culture, company stability, turnover rate, and working conditions was raised.

Lee Tae-hee, Head of the Smart Job Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, stated, "We were able to confirm the job perceptions of the MZ generation, who value self-development, work-life balance, and fair recruitment." He added, "We will strive to discover and widely promote SMEs with good organizational cultures, such as fair recruitment systems, to expand positive perceptions of employment at SMEs."

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