[WORD_ON_THE_WEB] 'This is the harsh reality for young people today'

According to a report by the National Youth Policy Institute, three in 10 young Koreans begin their careers on temporary contracts. The report is based on a survey of 2,041 young people last year.

The survey also revealed that the average starting monthly income was about 2,130,000 won ($1,700) for an average 41 hours a week worked.

On average, the length of employment was 33.3 months and 63.9 percent of young workers started their careers in small companies with less than 30 employees.

The average weekly working hours were longer for men, at 42 hours, than for women, at 40 hours, and men’s monthly income was more than 300,000 won higher than that of women. Workers with a higher level of education were generally paid more.

#no_jobs_left_for_young_people
“This is the harsh reality for young people today. There are no good positions left for them, and the retirement age is constantly pushed back. It will be worse for young people trying to find their footing.”
“You’ll know how hard it is to find jobs if you have a child looking for one. It’s hard to get into temporary positions that pay minimum wage, even with a graduate school diploma and multiple certificates. You need work experience to get employed.”

#poor_working_conditions_overall
“The low wage is only one of the problems. The working conditions are an overall mess. There is no overtime pay guarantee. A lot of companies expect you to also work on weekends. There's no additional payment.”
“It’s not just about the small wage. Young people can’t afford to buy their own house anyway. What hope do they have to keep going?”

#there_are_options
“There’s not enough people to work outside Seoul. The least we can do is accept foreign workers promptly.”
“Some companies are closing down because they lack people. Nobody wants to do the ‘tough and dirty’ work even with a good pay check.”

BY LEE SI-YEOUNG, YOO JI-WOO [yoo.jiwoo@joongang.co.kr]