Saving the ‘lost generation’

Suh Kyoung-ho
The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

The job market for the youth population is wretched. Unemployed twenty-somethings with a college degree numbered at 591,000 in the first half of the year, adding 7,009 from the same period a year ago. This year, it has taken an average of 13.9 months for young adults to land their first job after earning their final diploma, including from high school, longer than 12.3 months a year ago.

Youth joblessness has become a common feature around the world, with the coming-of-age for the “lost generation.” It owes largely to the mismatch between the human capital and the needs of the labor market. Can’t there be any way to save the lost generation?

In his latest book “Working Population is Disappearing,” Seoul National University economics professor Lee Chul-hee, an expert in demographic economics, predicted that the number of young people joining the job market will rapidly decline from the late 2020s as a result of the dip in birthrates from 2000. From the trajectory of Japan, the low fertility rate will eventually improve job prospects for young people in Korea as well, he forecast.

In Japan, companies vie to win over young people before they graduate from universities. Lee did add the caveat that Korea’s case depends on the labor demand of companies. But in sheer numbers, the shorter supply end will give job seekers an advantage. Those born in the late 1990s averaged 650,000 people per year, and are now fresh out of university. Newborns from 2000 sank to 400,000 per year. These days, the number has halved to around 200,000, which means fewer job seekers by 2050.

The low birthrate would serve as a boon for the young in their future job prospects. The market can turn in favor of the supply end four to five years later. Young people should keep their hopes up and spend their waiting time valuably by bolstering their potential.

Employers also must broaden their perspective. A few years later, young talents can be harder to come by. The older employees will still be valuable assets as they are healthier, better educated and more apt than their predecessors. Still, an organization can lose vitality if the stream of young blood dries up. Young people tend to be fast learners, responsive and engaging towards novelties and innovations. Young adults stood at the forefront of the westward expeditions in the 19th century in the U.S. Adding young recruits regardless of the hard times could become a strong asset for a company in the longer run. The move also scores points for the company in social responsibility.

Commercial bank majors like KB Bank and Woori Bank are experimenting with a novel program of “retirement” for childcare. Young employees with small children can apply for early retirement for up to five years — two years of parental leave guaranteed by the law plus three more years — and return to work. The payroll relief can help banks use some of the savings on digital transition or other investments as well as new hiring. In an opinion piece in the JoongAng Ilbo two years ago, Choi Byung-kook, president of the International Plant-quarantine Accreditation Board, proposed to expand long leaves for workers to make room for new hiring so as not to breed the lost generation of Japan in Korea. An entrepreneur with foresight on sustainable growth and management needs to pay attention to this idea.

It is a government’s role to nurse such environments through encouragements in the system. Young people should be able to build experiences and training through temporary gigs. The education and labor market must be flexible to put valuable young labor capital into good use. The key to addressing youth joblessness lies with education and labor reforms. Sadly, the matter seems to be of little interest to the sitting president as well as the opposition leader.