South Korea records record number of unemployed 30-year-olds

VTV.vn - The number of Koreans in their 30s who declared they were "resting", meaning they were neither working nor looking for work, exceeded 330,000 people in October.

South Korea records record number of unemployed 30-year-olds

The number of South Koreans in their 30s who reported being “at rest,” meaning neither working nor looking for work, exceeded 330,000 in October, the highest level since the data began in 2003. The development suggests that more people in the core working-age group are leaving the job market.

According to data released by the National Statistics Agency of Korea on November 12, the number of economically inactive people in their 30s reached 334,000, up 24,000 from the same period last year. Although the employment rate of this group increased slightly by 0.3 percentage points, the number of people who are not working or looking for work increased, reflecting the increasingly deep imbalance between labor supply and demand.

Experts say the main reason comes from the mismatch between recruitment needs and workers' skills, in the context of employment in key industries such as manufacturing and construction remains bleak. The spread of artificial intelligence (AI) in many fields also causes the situation of "jobless growth" to continue, weakening the career prospects of the 30-year-old group.

Manufacturing employment, the backbone of South Korea’s export-led economy, fell by 51,000 jobs in October from a year earlier, marking the 16th straight month of declines. Although semiconductor exports hit a record high in the third quarter, the trend has yet to have a positive impact on employment. The Korea Development Institute (KDI) said the employment spillover factor for the semiconductor industry was only 2.1, about a third of the average of 6.2 for the entire manufacturing sector.

The construction industry also recorded a sharp decline, shedding 123,000 jobs in October, the 18th consecutive month of decline and stronger than the 84,000 job loss in September.

“The longer workers stay out of the labor market, the greater the likelihood that they will give up the idea of ​​returning, creating a vicious cycle that saps the vitality of the economy,” warns Professor Kwon Hyuk of the Graduate School of Labor Studies at Korea National University.

He called on the Government to “move to a proactive employment services model, detecting and supporting people who are unemployed early”.

Source: https://vtv.vn/han-quoc-ghi-nhan-so-luong-ky-luc-nguoi-30-tuoi-that-nghiep-100251113182902469.htm