73.4% of Youth Hope to Work at SMEs but Face Job Mismatch... Analysis by Korea Federation of SMEs

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] An analysis has emerged suggesting that the recruitment process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) needs to be improved to alleviate the mismatch between SMEs and youth employment.

The Korea Federation of SMEs (Kbiz) released an issue report titled "Three Discontents (Imbalance, Unreasonableness, Dissatisfaction) of Youth Employment" on the 22nd. It identified three problems faced by SMEs and youth during the recruitment process: imbalance in workforce supply and demand, unreasonableness in the recruitment process, and dissatisfaction with recruitment outcomes. The report emphasizes that resolving the 'unreasonableness' and 'dissatisfaction' in the recruitment process is essential to address the 'imbalance in workforce supply and demand.'

In fact, the mismatch in youth employment is severe. According to a survey by Kbiz, as of this year, 73.4% of young job seekers responded that they are willing to work for SMEs, an increase of 23.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. However, during the same period, the shortage of personnel in companies with fewer than 300 employees rose by 217,000 to 598,000 compared to the previous year.

The issue report explains that unreasonableness in the recruitment process refers to the unfairness perceived by job seekers at every stage of recruitment, such as exaggerated job postings, recruitment solicitations, and opaque recruitment procedures. This leads to a decline in trust among job seekers and results in youth avoiding SMEs. Dissatisfaction with recruitment outcomes arises from recruitment systems that lack structured document screening and interviews, making efficient personnel verification difficult.

The issue report suggests that resolving the job mismatch should start with supporting improvements in recruitment procedures for SMEs, which lack sufficient personnel and resources for human resource management. By creating and distributing recruitment posting guidelines for SMEs to provide more transparent recruitment information and job descriptions, the inflow of personnel into SMEs can be promoted.

Kbiz argues that establishing a monitoring system for unfair recruitment procedures and expanding publicity for support systems that protect job seekers' rights are necessary to establish sound recruitment procedures within the SME recruitment market.

They also emphasized the importance of interest and support from relevant government ministries regarding recruitment methods that SMEs can utilize for efficient personnel verification and hiring.

Furthermore, the report analyzed that developing standardized recruitment procedure models by job type (such as self-introduction letters and in-depth interview formats) and supporting advanced recruitment systems like AI interviews will enable job matching that satisfies both hiring companies and job seekers.

Jung Kyung-eun, head of the Youth Hope Employment Department at Kbiz, said, "To resolve the job mismatch, we launched the 'Pretty Good SME' platform last year and are promoting various personnel matching projects. We will pay close attention to the entire SME recruitment process and actively propose support measures to the government and related ministries to help companies select talent efficiently and assist young job seekers in successful employment."

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