Youth, 1 Year Until First Job... Employment Lasts Less Than 1.5 Years

[Financial News]  
The proportion of young people who have not found a job for over a year after graduation has increased compared to last year. Although the wage level at the first job has somewhat improved, the number of cases of resigning due to dissatisfaction with working conditions has increased. 
 According to the '2025 May Economically Active Population Survey Youth Supplementary Survey Results' released by Statistics Korea on the 24th, the participation of young people in economic activities has decreased, and the non-economically active population, who remain outside the labor market, such as 'just passing time', has increased.

 As of May 2025, the number of employed youths (aged 15-29) was 3,682,000, a decrease of 150,000 from the previous year. The total youth population also decreased by 200,000 to 7,974,000, and it is analyzed that the decline in population, along with sluggishness in the manufacturing and construction industries, affected the decrease in the number of employed persons.
 The youth economic activity participation rate was 49.5%, and the employment rate was 46.2%, each decreasing by 0.8%p and 0.7%p. The unemployment rate was 6.6%, a decrease of 0.1%p, but this is interpreted as the decrease in the number of employed persons was larger.
 The number of graduates from the final school was 4,175,000, of which 2,962,000 (70.6%) were employed, and 1,212,000 (29.4%) were unemployed.
 Among them, the proportion of unemployed youths for over a year was 46.6%, an increase of 1.0%p from the previous year, and those unemployed for over three years increased by 0.4%p to 18.9%. In particular, the proportion of those unemployed for less than six months decreased by 3.0%p to 37.7%, indicating a clear trend of prolonged youth unemployment.
 Among the reasons for unemployment, 'preparing for vocational education/employment exams' increased by 2.7%p to 40.5%.
 The response of 'just passing time' also increased by 0.4%p to 25.1%. On the other hand, 'job searching' decreased by 0.3%p to 8.8%, indicating an increase in young people giving up on job searching.

 The average time taken to obtain the first job after graduation was 11.3 months, shortened by 0.2 months. On the other hand, the average employment duration at the first job was 1 year and 6.4 months, shortened by 0.8 months, indicating that even after difficult employment, stable long-term work is not achieved.
 Among the reasons for leaving the first job, 'dissatisfaction with working conditions' increased by 0.9%p to 46.4%, remaining the biggest reason for resignation. Contract expiration (15.5%, +0.1%p), personal/family reasons (13.7%, +1.6%p) followed.
 The industry with the most first jobs was the accommodation and food service industry (16.3%), an increase of 1.6%p from the previous year. It was followed by manufacturing (13.1%, -0.8%p) and wholesale and retail trade (11.4%, +0.5%p).
 The wage level has somewhat improved compared to the previous year. The proportion of those whose first monthly salary was between 2 million and 3 million won was the highest at 39.7%, followed by 1.5 million to 2 million won (28.3%), and 1 million to 1.5 million won (11.1%). 
 Among non-economically active youths, the number of those who prepared for employment exams in the past week was 585,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous year. The ratio compared to the total non-economically active population also increased by 0.6%p to 14.5%.
 In particular, in the field of employment exam preparation, 'general companies' rose by 6.3%p to 36.0%, recording an all-time high. This figure is significantly ahead of 'preparing for public service' (18.2%). 'Technical qualifications and others' was 17.8%.


spring@fnnews.com Lee Bomi Reporter