Seoul: More than 560,000 young South Koreans have remained jobless one year after their graduation, data showed Thursday, while nearly half of them have been searching for jobs to no avail for over three years.
According to Yonhap News Agency, data from Statistics Korea reveals that the number of employed youths, aged 15-29, came to 3.67 million as of May, marking a decrease of 150,000 from the previous year.
The statistics agency highlighted that the youth employment rate has been declining due to a shrinking population in this age group, coupled with a prolonged downturn in the construction and manufacturing sectors. The number of individuals in this age group who have completed their education fell by 192,000 to approximately 4.17 million over the cited period.
The data also indicated a slight reduction in the number of young people who remained unemployed for over a year since their graduation, dipping by 23,000 to 565,000 as of May. However, their proportion among the unemployed increased by 1 percentage point to 46.6 percent. Among these unemployed individuals, about 230,000 have remained jobless for more than three years, making up 18.9 percent of the total, an increase from 18.5 percent a year earlier.
While 40.5 percent of the unemployed youths reported being engaged in job-related education or training, 25.1 percent admitted to simply "passing time." For waged workers, the average time it took to secure their first job dropped slightly to 11.3 months from 11.5 months a year earlier. However, the average duration of employment at their first jobs also decreased to 18.4 months from 19.2 months.
Nearly half, or 46.4 percent, of those who left their first jobs cited unfavorable working conditions, such as low wages and long working hours, as reasons for quitting.