Majority of South Koreans harbour pessimistic job outlooks

At least one in five young South Koreans, aged 15 to 29, were job searching as of October, according to data from Statistics Korea.
By: | December 29, 2021
Topics: Health and Wellness | News | South Korea

The majority of South Koreans have a pessimistic outlook on job opportunities as it has been hard for them to obtain employment since the pandemic started.

At least one in five young South Koreans, aged 15 to 29, were job searching as at October, according to data from Statistics Korea.

A separate survey by the Economic, Social and Labour Council (ESLC) also showed that out of 1,000 respondents aged 19 to 39, some 91% found it hard to land a job since the onslaught of COVID-19, writes The Straits Times.

About half of the respondents felt hopeless as most job fairs were cancelled or postponed indefinitely, while only 10.9% believed that the situation would improve.

Many jobseekers believed companies were holding back on hiring new workers, which in turn reduced job seeking opportunities for them. 

READ: Unemployment rate fell to 2.6% in November in South Korea

“It is essential for us to have discussions about youth employment and set an agenda so as to stabilise and fully utilise the future labour force,” said Moon Sung-hyun, chairman of the ESLC, adding that the pandemic has had an adverse effect on the youth.