A South Korean government survey of 10,442 people who completed doctoral programs between August 2024 and February found that the unemployment rate among this group reached 29.6%. This is the highest since the survey began in 2014, when the rate was 24.5%. Last year's figure was 25.8%, indicating an increasing unemployment trend.

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Job seekers look at a job listing at the Employment Welfare Center in Seoul on February 20. Photo: Yonhap

The hardest hit are young PhDs under 30, with 47.7% unemployed. Unemployment is highest in the arts and humanities, with more than 40% unemployed. In contrast, the health, education , business and law sectors have more positive employment prospects.

The survey results reflect a growing shortage of high-quality, well-paid jobs for highly educated young people amid the economic downturn, according to South Korea's Youth Daily .

Additionally, according to Statistics Korea, the employment rate among those aged 20-29 in January was only 59.7%, down more than two percentage points from a year earlier, lower than the national employment rate of 61%.

Another notable trend is that more young people are choosing to leave the labor market. In January alone, about 37,000 Koreans in their 20s said they stopped working to “take a break,” up 10.3 percent from the same month last year.

Another worrying factor is the rise in the number of people working on temporary jobs instead of full-time jobs, according to the Korea Times. About 6% of the 28.6 million South Korean workers are currently working on super-short-term jobs - the highest rate ever recorded, raising concerns about job stability.

While the central government has yet to come up with comprehensive measures, many local governments are actively implementing youth employment support programs.

In addition to financial support, many provinces in Korea have implemented more practical policies. Cities such as Gwangju, Busan, Ulsan and Gyeonggi Province offer free suit and shoe rental services to help young people feel more confident when going for interviews. Some places also sponsor vocational and foreign language certification exams, helping to reduce financial pressure for job seekers...

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