"Even if there's a hole, it's better under the roof"... Era of Great Retention

[Financial News] The saying 'Outside the company is hell' is no longer a joke among office workers. JobKorea announced on the 14th that the number of resignations in the first half of this year decreased by 22% compared to the second half of last year, with the publication of the '2025 First Half Employment Trend Report'.
Amid the conservative hiring stance of companies due to the economic downturn, the 'Great Retention' phenomenon, where people try to keep their current jobs amid uncertainty, is analyzed as a structural change. A JobKorea representative said, "The tendency of office workers to prioritize stability over taking risks has become more pronounced."
On the other hand, the demand for AI talent has increased. During the same period, job postings containing the keyword 'AI' increased by 8%. This shows that AI capabilities are becoming a key competitive advantage even in hiring recessions. Combining domain knowledge with AI utilization skills to showcase performance increases the likelihood of success.
The preference for experienced workers has also expanded. While postings that new graduates could apply for regardless of experience have decreased, the proportion of job postings for experienced workers increased by 3.1%. The trend of preferring immediately deployable personnel has strengthened.
JobKorea proposed three strategies ahead of the second half's open recruitment: △Targeting Timing △Surviving with AI △Step-by-Step. According to their data, postings are concentrated in April, and applications in May, so targeting periods with lower competition is advantageous. In the second half, postings were concentrated in August to October, and applications in October to November.
They also explained that considering the preference for experienced talent, the route of gaining key project experience in small and medium-sized enterprises and then moving to medium and large enterprises remains valid.
This report is the result of analyzing hiring data over a year from July 1st last year to June 30th this year. Detailed information can be found at JobKorea ContentLAB.

jimnn@fnnews.com Shin Ji-min Reporter