How Bad Is Youth Unemployment In South Korea?

In Korea, there are a lot of factors that affect their economy. One of the factors that have been pulling them down is the drastic increase of unemployment rate in the youth. This is a bit hard to understand but there are companies allowed by their laws and regulations to accept and embrace youth employment in order to help boost Korean economy and to allow the youth to be prepared for the real world in the future.

Right now, the youth unemployment rate is a socio-economic issue which has been very significant to Korea’s economy. Below are the factors that would lead to a more comprehensive grasp as to the impact of the situation:

  • Statistics
  • Competition
  • Mismatch
  • Structure
  • Delayed Milestones
  • Mental Health

Statistics

As per recent statistics, the youth unemployment rate has increased from 27% to 38% in the last two years. This is definitely high compared to the average unemployment rate of other OECD countries. The problem is, these statistics are usually blasted on the news regularly allowing for the youth to see. Instead of inspiring the youth to actually be serious and take on jobs best for them, it discourages them and instead, gives them a reason to sulk. Korea’s youth unemployment rate is relatively high, reflecting broader challenges within the labor market.

Competition

Korea is full of very talented and intelligent individuals and this is also the reason why their unemployment rate has spiked. Because of the tough competition considering the qualified applicants, there are some that are favored over the others leaving them to be rejected in job applications.

The youth may seem not to handle rejection very well thus, instead of using this as fuel to achieve more and continue applying, some just give up.

Mismatch

Obviously, mismatch is not only a problem in Korean employment in the youth. This is also experienced by all countries over the world. The mismatch in the educational attainment and the role being applied for is rampant. This is one of the most common contributing factors.

There are still a lot of contributing factors, but the descriptions above are the most common, rampant and known. The youth in Korea have brilliant minds and exceptional talents however, sometimes, it is the emotional intelligence that they lack. Actually, this is true not only to the youth of Korea but the world in entirety. The youth in general have become babies in cocoons that could not experience metamorphosis. This could be because they are too pampered by their parents growing up.