1)  Passive job seeking: Includes pro forma and obligatory job seeking, hardly engaging in any job seeking activities, or have paused seeking for jobs and/or will seek jobs in the future.

  The tight job market is discouraging the majority of youth from pursuing active job searches.

 3)  Preparing to enter into graduate school, take the civil service exam, or acquire a National Technical Certificate, etc.

  The most common answer for why respondents did not pursue active job searches was  ‣I need to build more capacity, skill, knowledge, etc. (46.7%) That answer was followed by (in descending order of frequency): ‣Few or no jobs in my field of study or interest (18.1%), ‣It is unlikely that I will gain employment even if I engage in job searching (14.0%), and ‣Few or no jobs that offer suitable compensation or working conditions (10.1%). 

Hiring slowdowns continued this year... 

Job market is, “Tighter this year,” (36.5%) vs. “Better than last year” (3.2%).

  The response from 4 in 10 university students (36.5%) was that the job market for university graduate-level positions was “Tighter this year.” This is a 6.2%p uptick from the previous year (30.3%).

  Meanwhile, the ratio of respondents who answered that the job market was, “Better than last year,” was 3.2%, a 0.4%p drop from the previous year (3.6%). This signifies the worsening perspective on the university graduates job market on the previous year.

 ４)  Data from 2023 are results from the 2023 Survey of University Students’ Perspectives on Employment Prospects (November 22, 2023)

  The most often cited challenge when seeking employment was, “Lack of job openings” (50.8%). That answer was followed by (in descending order of frequency): ‣Fewer openings for new recruits (27.5%), ‣Lack of good jobs with working conditions that meet expectations (23.3%), ‣Difficulties securing opportunities in gaining practical experience (15.9%).

The ratio of university graduates in 2024 that successfully passed document screening is merely 1 in 5 (22.2%)… in practice, the door to gaining employment may be even tighter.

  On average, university students who actively engaged in job seeking this year applied to 6.3 companies. They passed the document screening 1.4 times on average, meaning that their chances of passing document screening was a mere 22.2%. Compared to last year’s figures for passing document screening (28.3%), this year’s figure was lower by 6.1%p.

  In detail, the number times job seekers applied to companies this year were (in descending order of frequency): ‣1-5 times (69.3%), ‣6-10 times (13.0%), ‣11-15 times (8.4%), and ‣16-20 times(3.3%). The number of times job seekers passed the document screening were (in descending order of frequency): ‣ 0 times (34.0%) was highest, followed by ‣Once (33.0%), and ‣Twice (13.5%). 

 5)  University seniors or graduates (including deferred and expected graduates) that pursued active job searches (Provided, answers such as “Not sure,” and “Awaiting response,” were considered missing values and were excluded)

 6)  Ibid.

 7)  Method of calculating average = ∑(Median value per field × Number of respondents per field)/Total number of respondents (Provided, the median value for the fields, “26 times or more,” and “5 times or more” were set to 26 and 5 times respectively)

Among university students 4 in 10 (37.1%) expect to spend “1 year or more” in seeking employment

  The response from 7 in 10 (67.6%) university students was that they expect gaining employment would take “6 months or more.” The response from 37.1% of responders was that they expect it would take “1 year or more” to gain employment.

  According to Statistics Korea’s Economically Active Population Survey (Supplementary Survey of Youth), as of May 2024, more than half (54.4%) of unemployed youth (20-34 years old) were long-term unemployed youth (1 year or more). This figure has risen over the previous 5 years by 3.2%p (51.2% in 2020 → increased to 54.4% in 2024).

 8)  Survey population: Youth between the ages of 20-34 who has completed their highest level of education

Necessary improvements for expanding employment of youth include ‘Improve business conditions for facilitating hiring’ (26.4%) and ‘Resolve labor market mismatch’ (21.9%)

  The most frequent answer choice from university students, when asked what policy improvements are necessary to resolve youth unemployment, was ‣Improve business conditions for facilitating hiring, including easing regulations (26.4%). Other answers included (in descending order of frequency): ‣Resolve labor market mismatch by, including, strengthening career guidance and expanding practical work opportunities (21.9%) and ‣Mitigate the effects of the dual structure of the labor market which favors regular workers and labor unions (18.2%).

  Sang-ho Lee, head of FKI’s Economic and Industrial Research Department said, With the prolonged sluggishness of the economy, most youth are discouraged from seeking to gain employment or were not able to gain employment that meets their expectations.” He emphasized, “In order to expand the number of desirable jobs that meets the expectation of youth, it is necessary to ramp up business sentiment and facilitate enhancement of businesses’ hiring capacities. This would require various actions, including extensive regulatory renovations and mitigating the effects of the dual structure of the labor market.