Korea faces longest sustained decline in youth employment rate since 2009 global financial crisis
Published: 17 Nov. 2025, 14:26
Updated: 17 Nov. 2025, 17:29
![A job seeker looks at an employment bulletin board at a job fair in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, on Nov. 12. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/17/204c4277-264d-4c0a-b405-694d1212c962.jpg)
A job seeker looks at an employment bulletin board at a job fair in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, on Nov. 12. [YONHAP]
Korea is facing a worsening youth employment crisis, with the number of young long-term job seekers continuing to climb amid the longest sustained drop in the youth employment rate since the 2009 global financial crisis.
According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics' Korean Statistical Information Service on Sunday, as of last month, there were 35,000 people in their 20s and 30s with a four-year university degree or higher who were unemployed for more than six months despite actively seeking work.
That figure is up by 7,000 from a year earlier and marks the highest since September 2024, when it was 36,000. Among the 35,000, 19,000 were aged 25 to 29, a group that typically includes recent college graduates.
The overall number of long-term unemployed people has also increased. As of last month, the total stood at 119,000, up by 21,000 from the previous year and the highest since October 2021, when it reached 128,000.
Regarding long-term youth unemployment, analysts attribute the increase to a persistent discrepancy between job seekers' needs and wants and what is available in the job market. According to a supplementary survey on economically inactive and nonwage workers released on Nov. 5 by the Data Ministry, 34.1 percent of young people aged 15 to 29 who were not working or job-hunting cited difficulty finding desirable jobs as their main reason.
![Attendees look at booths at a job fair in Gangseo District, western Seoul, on Oct. 21. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/17/60ccd45e-e40b-444b-a801-d3f0fb8abdce.jpg)
Attendees look at booths at a job fair in Gangseo District, western Seoul, on Oct. 21. [NEWS1]
Concerns are mounting that long-term joblessness may become a structural crisis that hinders youth employment recovery. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), nearly 90 percent of young people who recently (within a year) and involuntarily left a job expressed a desire to work again. But after a year, that rate dropped to around 50 percent.
According to another report with a title that translates roughly to “Spread of AI and Youth Employment Contraction” that was released by the BOK last month, 211,000 entry-level jobs were lost from the second half of 2022 to the first half of this year, with 98.6 percent, or 208,000 jobs, in industries quickly and largely adopting AI. Employers’ increasing preference for experienced hires is further exacerbating job prospects for university graduates.
The youth employment rate stood at 44.6 percent last month, a 1 percentage point decrease from a year earlier. The rate has declined for 18 consecutive months since May 2024, marking the longest slump since the 2009 financial crisis.
“Due to the rigid labor market in Korea, companies are already reluctant to recruit inexperienced hires,” said Seok Byoung-hoon, an economics professor at Ewha Womans University. “If this is compounded by policies to extend the retirement age, it will only become more difficult for young people to find jobs. We need to focus on improving labor market flexibility and the quality of university education to enhance the productivity of young workers.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY AHN HYO-SEONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)