[Journalism Internship] 'Youth on break': Korea’s worsening youth unemployment crisis
Published: 31 Dec. 2025, 13:52
![Job seekers receive consulting services at a job fair held in Magok in western Seoul on Oct. 21, 2025. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/31/5367e7c4-9363-4ca9-9819-dc6f915518a0.jpg)
Job seekers receive consulting services at a job fair held in Magok in western Seoul on Oct. 21, 2025. [NEWS1]
Yoon Yeon-seo, Kim Myeong-uk, An Sang-woo, Park Ji-hyeon
A 34-year-old surnamed Kim has been living with his parents for the past five years, relying on pocket money from them to get by. He wasn’t always this way.
Kim lost his job during the pandemic. Back in 2023, Kim was an active job seeker, ambitiously submitting over 40 applications, including to major conglomerates such as Google and Apple. But he eventually stopped trying after repeatedly feeling that companies no longer wanted “someone like me,” he said, describing himself as someone with an unfinished career and no clear label.
Kim isn’t alone; he is a part of the rapidly expanding group known as “youth on break” — unemployed people in their 20s and 30s who aren’t actively studying or searching for a job.
The number of youth on break reached a historical peak of 736,000 in October, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service. This group struggles to find employment because there isn’t enough room for highly-educated new hires in a labor market dominated by experienced hires.
'Employment mismatch': The involuntary unemployment crisis
South Korea’s job market is facing an “employment mismatch”: small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing worker shortages despite high youth unemployment rates, as young job seekers desire the high salaries, social status, and work-life balance only offered by large corporations.
South Korea’s youth have high standards: 86.7 percent of job seekers aged 19 to 34 cited pay and benefits as the most important factor when searching for jobs, followed by working hours at 70.0, according to a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI). This is because of South Korea’s sky-high education standards: 71 percent of 25 to 34 year olds graduated from University–the highest percentage out of all OECD countries, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
SMEs fail to meet this criteria in the eyes of many young job seekers–poor treatment despite high workloads was cited by 63.3 percent of respondents and poor work-life balance was cited by 45.3 percent of respondents as reasons behind their negative perception of SMEs in the KCCI survey. These businesses also face severe social stigma — only 14 percent job seekers under the age of 35 believed that they would be respected by society and only 21.9 percent believed that their families would support them if they were to accept a position in an SME, according to a survey conducted by the Korea Federation of SMEs.
Unable to find space in a large corporation–since they only employ 13.9 percent of South Korea’s workforce, the lowest out of all OECD countries, according to the Korea Development Institute — and unwilling to accept a position that fails to meet their standards, many qualified young adults end up in unemployment limbo.
Young people are also struggling because companies prefer experienced workers who can adapt to the workplace better in a shorter time period.
52.8 percent of the companies said that they prioritize expertise when hiring young adults in 2025, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor among 396 Korean companies ranked within the top 500 in terms of sales.
For employers, “expertise” was primarily defined by a candidate’s university major and prior experience in relevant internship programs. Companies said that those with such backgrounds tend to adapt more quickly to the workplace and perform assigned tasks better.
“As an employee, it is easier for us to work with experienced employees,” said a 46-year-old male surnamed Yoon. He is an employee at a corporation. He believes that as the company’s main goal is to make as much profit as possible, it is essential to show the outcome that the employees made. If a new young adult joins the team who doesn’t have any experience with the task, then the teammates have to teach them step by step. The company would give more tasks because the number of teammates increased, but if the person struggles with the task, then it is their responsibility to finish it. “Making money requires huge responsibilities,” said Yoon.
An exit before an exit
As the number of so-called “resting youth” continues to rise, the government is turning its attention to those who are most likely to slip into inactivity before their careers fully begin.
By surveying graduation-ready students via university job centers and linking employment data with national scholarship records, the ministry plans to identify vulnerable graduates early on and offer one-on-one counseling, job matching, and practical hiring support within four months of graduation, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
This preventive approach aligns with the argument that many resting youth do not deliberately choose to step away from work, but instead lose momentum after repeated rejection, a view emphasized by Ki-hyun Kim, a senior researcher at the National Youth Policy Institute, who points out that experience-centered hiring practices and delayed recruitment since Covid-19 have widened the gap between education and stable employment, making the early post-graduation period especially fragile.
By strengthening coordination between schools, employers, and public employment services, this policy seeks to intervene before discouragement hardens into long-term rest.
Additionally, a fundamentally different approach is to decouple career legitimacy from continuous employment by formally recognizing skill-based pathways outside employment Rather than forcing graduates into immediate employment, this model allows periods of skill accumulation, project work, or certified training to be recognized as productive labor market participation.
The World Economic Forum has found that rigid credential and experience requirements are a major driver of youth exclusion, arguing that skills-based systems — where abilities are validated through assessments, portfolios, or micro-credentials — significantly lower entry barriers for young people navigating unstable labor markets.
The Forum notes that countries and firms adopting skills-first hiring frameworks are better able to absorb young workers during economic shocks, reducing long-term disengagement. Applied to the problem of resting youth, this approach reframes “rest” not as inactivity, but as a recognized transition phase, reducing stigma while maintaining employability.
By shifting social and institutional expectations away from uninterrupted employment, this solution addresses the psychological and structural pressures that push young people into withdrawal, rather than blaming individuals for failing to conform to an increasingly unstable job market.
“The problem isn’t that young people stopped trying. It’s that no one called their name before they did,” Kim added.
BY YOON YEON-SEO, KIM MYEONG-UK, AN SANG-WOO, PARK JI-HYEON [[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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