Younger workers in South Korea face greater employment woes

Younger workers in South Korea have faced greater difficulty in landing jobs than older workers since the onslaught of the pandemic, according to data from the Statistics Korea Institute. 

The employment rate for South Koreans aged 15 to 34 hit 50.5% in January, down 52.8% a year earlier, while the employment rate for those aged 35 to 64 was 71.2% in January, down 73.6% from the previous year. 

Workers who had graduated from college or high school less than a year ago were found to face more difficulty finding jobs. 

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The employment rate for male workers who just graduated from college or university fell 12.1% percentage points year-on-year in August and September last year, while the employment rate for their female counterparts fell 14.4 percentage points year-on-year in March and April 2020, and 14.9 percentage points in October and November 2020 from the previous year, writes Yonhap News Agency.