4-Year University Graduates Say "Half of College Graduates Struggle to Find Employment"

Hankyung Association '2023 University Student Employment Perception Survey'
Expected Employment Rate 49.7%... "More Difficult Than Last Year" 30.3%

The expected employment rate for this year, as indicated by current students, graduates, and prospective graduates of four-year universities nationwide, was found to be below 50%.

The Korea Economic Association announced the results of the '2023 University Student Employment Perception Survey' on the 22nd, which targeted 3,224 current students, graduates, and prospective graduates of four-year universities nationwide. The survey, consisting of 16 questions, was conducted over three weeks from the 6th to the 27th of last month.

The average expected employment rate among respondents was 49.7%. Respondents were asked to select one range from ten intervals spanning from 0%~less than 10% up to 90%~100%. The highest response rate was for the 50%~less than 60% range at 15.8%, followed by 30%~less than 40% at 14.7%.

The difficulties faced during the job preparation process were ranked as follows: ▲reduced opportunities for new hires due to preference for experienced workers (26.3%), ▲lack of good jobs matching desired working conditions (22.6%), and ▲difficulty securing practical experience opportunities such as experiential internships (17.2%).

Thirty point three percent of respondents said that the environment for new university graduate recruitment this year is "more difficult than last year," an increase of 0.7 percentage points (p) from last year's 29.6%. The proportion of those who said it is "similar to last year" was 25.9%, down 3.1%p from last year's 29%. Those who said it is "better than last year" accounted for 3.6%, a decrease of 2%p from last year's 5.6%.

Fifty-seven point five percent of respondents were identified as "passive job seekers" with low job search expectations. The proportion of passive job seekers is the sum of responses indicating ▲job searching out of formality (28.2%), ▲almost not searching (22.7%), and ▲taking a break (6.7%) among job search activity responses.

The proportion of "active job seekers" was 21.1%. Among the reasons for not engaging in active job search activities, the most common response was "to prepare more due to lack of competencies, skills, and knowledge" (48.5%). Job scarcity (38.4%) was the next most cited reason.

Reasons for job scarcity included ▲lack or shortage of jobs in the major or area of interest (16.9%), ▲belief that a job cannot be found despite job searching (13.6%), and ▲lack or shortage of jobs with appropriate wage levels or working conditions (7.9%).

Job seekers attending the '2023 Aviation Industry Job Fair' held on the 30th of last month at the International Terminal of Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, are looking at the recruitment bulletin board. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Active job seekers this year applied for jobs an average of six times. The average number of times they passed document screening was 1.7. The document screening pass rate averaged 28.3%, which is 7.5%p lower than last year's pass rate of 35.8%.

Sixty-six point one percent of respondents said the job preparation period would take "six months or more." The proportion expecting it to take "one year or more" was 37.1%. According to the supplementary survey on youth in the Statistics Korea Economically Active Population Survey, as of May, 45.4% of unemployed youth (aged 15?29) were long-term unemployed for one year or more.

University students identified policy tasks as follows: ▲expanding corporate employment capacity through deregulation in labor and industrial sectors (25.9%) was the most cited. Others included ▲resolving mismatches through strengthened career guidance and expanded support for industry-academia field training (23.3%), ▲expanding support for vocational training in the 4th industrial revolution fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data (17.9%), and ▲alleviating the dual labor market structure concentrated on existing regular workers and labor unions (17.1%).

Choo Kwang-ho, Head of the Economic and Industrial Headquarters at the Korea Economic Association, emphasized, "With the ongoing economic downturn, the capacity for companies to create new jobs is shrinking. It is necessary for the government and the National Assembly to enhance corporate vitality through regulatory reform and labor reform, and to strengthen youth employment support by expanding work experience opportunities and vocational training."

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