More than half of unemployed youth in South Korea have college degrees

More than half of the 1.26 million unemployed youth have bachelor's degrees, blamed on "education inflation" in South Korea.

Survey data from statistics agency Statistic Korea showed that as of May, 1.26 million out of 4.5 million people aged 15 to 29 were unemployed.

About 53 percent of unemployed youth, or 666,000 people, have a college degree. One percent have a master's or doctorate degree, or 12,000 people. The rest have a high school education or less.

According to analysis by the Korea Economic Institute, young people with high degrees have difficulty finding jobs due to "education inflation".

Koreans believe that the only way to get a stable, high-paying job is to study at a prestigious university. Companies also often rely on degrees to evaluate candidates' abilities. Therefore, more and more young people have a university degree or higher. Increased competition makes it difficult for many university graduates to find jobs.

In addition, many people choose schools based on reputation rather than suitability. They also only want to find jobs at large corporations instead of small and medium-sized enterprises. As a result, it takes graduates an average of 10 months after graduation to find a job they like.

Statistics Korea also showed that 324,000 people took more than three years to find a job.

Job seekers at a fair in Incheon, South Korea. Photo: CNBC — Job seekers at a fair in Incheon, South Korea. Photo: *CNBC*

Besides those who are trying to find jobs, more than 25% of unemployed youth in Korea are not making any effort to find jobs.

The most common reason for this phenomenon is that young people cannot find jobs with high income and desirable working conditions. Meanwhile, some of Korea's severely labor-short industries, such as agriculture, require working outdoors or in unsanitary environments.

According to the Korea JoongAng Daily , many companies tend to hire experienced people instead of fresh recruits. Large companies such as Samsung and Hyundai Motor do not post job openings as frequently as before. As job opportunities at large companies for new graduates are becoming increasingly scarce, many have lost hope.

A survey of nearly 2,500 final-year students by the Federation of Korean Industries in late 2022 found that 65.8% of respondents had almost given up on finding a job.

South Korea is facing an aging population and an all-time low birth rate (0.78 in 2022), causing a labor shortage and threatening the size of its economy. The country is attracting foreign workers to address the crisis.

Khanh Linh (According to The Straits Times, Korea JoongAng Daily, KEI)

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