Korea's youth employment gap with OECD's average hits record high
Average employment rate for those aged 15 to 24 across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries was 43.2 percent in 2024, while Korea's reached 26.8 percent.
Job seekers sit for interviews at a job fair at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung District, central Seoul, on Aug. 19.YONHAP
Korea’s youngest job seekers’ search for their first job is dragging on as companies increasingly favor experienced hires.
Even the country’s semiconductor-led economic recovery has done little to improve its youth employment rate, causing experts to urge bolder policies to reflect the shift in Korea’s job market.
Korea’s employment rate for people aged 15 to 24 has fallen steadily since reaching 28.8 percent in 2022, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Oct. 19. It dropped to 27.9 percent in 2023 and 26.8 percent in 2024.
The figures are especially grim compared to the average employment rate for the same age group across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, which has remained relatively stable at 42.8 percent in 2022, 43.5 percent in 2023 and 43.2 percent in 2024.
This means that the gap between Korea’s rate and the OECD’s in 2024 was 16.4 percentage points — the widest in a decade.
That difference is expected to grow, as Korea’s employment rate for people aged 15 to 24 fell another 1.5 percentage points last year to 25.3 percent.
Job seekers consult with recruiters at a job fair in Busan on Sept. 21.YONHAP
Korea has traditionally had a much lower employment rate for this age group than other major OECD economies.
Teenagers and young adults in the United States, Europe and other developed nations are more likely to enter the work force or participate in vocational education than their Korean counterparts, who typically attend university.
Korea’s tertiary education attainment rate among people aged 25 to 34 stood at 71.1 percent, well above the OECD average of 47.5 percent, according to the OECD Education at a Glance 2026 report released in September.
But despite there being no major change in Korea’s college enrollment rate in the past five years, the employment rate for those aged 15 to 24 has continued to fall over this period.
Rows of job seekers wait for job interviews at a career fair at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung District, central Seoul, on Aug. 19.YONHAP
It fell this year to 24.1 percent in the first quarter and 23.2 percent in the second and is expected to end the year below last year’s level.
“Job opportunities have narrowed because major companies have cut back on open recruitment, and the broader preference for experienced workers has lengthened the time that young people spend preparing for employment,” a government official said. “Current job seekers are facing even greater difficulties because of gaps in their experience during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Additionally, there are not enough good jobs for young people.
Employment in manufacturing and construction, both regarded in Korea as sectors that offer relatively high-quality jobs, has declined for more than two years, according to employment data. Hiring also remains weak in industries closely tied to domestic demand, such as accommodation and food services.
Job seekers photograph QR-coded recruitment notices at a job fair in Daegu on Sept. 7.NEWS1
About 16,000 people were hired in the manufacturing industry in September, the first increase in 27 months. But that reflected only a slight recovery from weakness caused by the Middle East crisis, and it is still too early to call it a meaningful rebound.
The government has raised its growth forecast for this year to between 3.4 and 3.6 percent and has pointed to an economic recovery. The labor market, however, is telling a different story.
Interestingly, employment among older Koreans is moving in the opposite direction.
While the employment rate for people aged 15 to 24 fell 3.6 percentage points between 2022 and 2025, that for those aged 60 and older rose 2.2 points to 46.7 percent.
The shift was even more pronounced among people aged 55 to 64, whose employment rate topped 70 percent for the first time in 2025 at 70.5 percent.
The increase reflects a growing older population, stronger demand to delay retirement and an increase in jobs for older workers, particularly in caregiving and social welfare.
A job seeker claps their hands during a job interview at a career fair in central Seoul on Sept. 16.NEWS1
Young people are struggling to find work as the labor market increasingly shifts toward older workers, and the trend could become a flash point for intergenerational competition over jobs.
The increasingly prolonged job search is now also affecting people in their late 20s, whose employment rate had previously remained relatively strong.
Korea’s employment rate for people aged 25 to 29 fell from 72.5 percent in 2024 to 71.8 percent last year and dropped further to 71.4 percent in the third quarter of this year.
“Even graduates from top universities cannot get jobs because they lack experience, but they cannot gain experience because they cannot get jobs [in the first place],” Prof. Hur Joon-young at Sogang University’s College of Economics said. “This is a structural problem that is not easy to solve.”
Hur said that Korea needs to look beyond its current growth engines.
“Semiconductors and AI […] are important, but it’s time to think seriously about long-term industrial restructuring centered on job creation,” Hur said.
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.
