Young Koreans seek gov’t jobs

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Young Koreans seek gov’t jobs

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As it becomes increasingly difficult to land stable positions elsewhere, young Koreans are chasing government jobs in growing numbers, according to a recent report.

Eight out of ten job seekers are currently interested in applying for government jobs for reasons such as job security and pension benefits upon retirement, representatives at the job employment portal Saramin said Thursday.

Saramin surveyed a total of 1,524 college students and job seekers and asked them whether and why they prefer government jobs. Some 77 percent of job seekers, and 83 percent of college students, said they are interested in preparing for entry examinations.

A total of 77 percent of respondents said they want government jobs since these offer relatively stable working conditions, while 38.5 percent said they are seeking government jobs because equally attractive alternatives are scarce.

Some 23 percent thought job requirements are relatively less strict, and 17.1 percent said they like that government jobs have no legal age limit for applicants.

One of the interesting facts revealed by the survey was that participants are evidently interested in getting government jobs even though they believe it may be harder for them to do so; 36.9 percent said it’s more difficult to get government jobs, while only 13.8 percent said it’s harder to find work in the private sector.

Moreover, 41.9 percent of job-seeking respondents said they’re actually preparing for the government job examination, and 96 percent of those who are preparing for the exam said they feel anxious about their chances, yet 52.3 percent said they’ve been studying for the test for less than six months, while only 18.5 percent said they’ve been studying for six months to a year. Roughly 9 percent have spent three years or more preparing for the exam.

Meanwhile, the number of applicants seeking entry-level government jobs this year rose to 223,000, a 30,000 increase over last year, according to the Statistics Korea jobs report, released Wednesday. Unfortunately, only 1.85 percent of applicants, or 4,120 people, will be able to secure job offers this year.

Furthermore, the unemployment rate for Koreans aged 15 to 29 reached an all-time record of 12.5 percent in February.


BY KIM YOUNG-NAM [kim.youngnam@joongang.co.kr]
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