The share of wage workers aged 50 and older in small and midsize businesses rose 12.4 percentage points over the past 10 years. A proposal said the government should encourage intergenerational coexistence by offering tax benefits to small and midsize businesses that increase employment of both young people and older workers, in response to discussions on extending the retirement age.
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises , together with the Korea SMEs & Startups Institute (KOSI), said the Korea Society of SMEs and Startups Policy held a small and midsize business workforce forum on the 11th at KBIZ in Yeouido, Seoul, under the theme "Measures to promote intergenerational coexistence employment in SMEs in response to retirement age extension."
As the start age for receiving National Pension benefits is delayed to 65, the 22nd National Assembly has introduced 12 bills to extend the statutory retirement age, currently 60, to 65 or older.
The share of wage workers aged 50 and older at small and midsize businesses rose from 31.6% in 2015 to 44.0% last year. Since 2021, the share of workers aged 50 and older has surpassed that of those 39 and younger.
Kang Myeong-su, president of the Korea Society of SMEs and Startups Policy, said, "As discussions on extending the retirement age have recently gained momentum, we are reaching a new turning point," and noted, "On the ground at small and midsize businesses, we face a triple challenge of a rising share of older workers, difficulty securing young talent, and the departure of skilled workers."
At the forum, Noh Min-seon, Deputy Minister at the Korea SMEs & Startups Institute (KOSI), gave a presentation on the theme "Measures to promote intergenerational coexistence employment between young and older workers in SMEs."
Deputy Minister Noh estimated that over the next five years, the number of regular employees at small and midsize businesses who would be subject to a retirement age extension will reach 1,483,000. Of these, the number working at business sites that operate a mandatory retirement system is expected to be only 855,000. This is because the adoption rate of mandatory retirement is lower the smaller the corporations are. The share of business sites operating a mandatory retirement system was found at 13.2% among corporations with 1–4 employees, 30.5% among those with 5–9, and 55.5% among those with 10–29.
The average monthly wage of regular employees aged 55–59 working at small and midsize businesses was 3.72 million won, or 65% of the 5.72 million won earned by large-corporation workers. Average tenure was 12.3 years, about half of the 23.1 years at large corporations.
Deputy Minister Noh emphasized that for a retirement age extension to take root smoothly, coexistence and cooperation between young and older workers must underpin it.
As key policy tasks, Noh proposed tax support for small and midsize businesses where the numbers of young and older workers increase simultaneously and young workers' wages are raised, fostering generation-convergent startups in which both generations participate together, and supporting labor costs for corporations that replace foreign workers with older domestic workers.
Jo Joo-hyun, president of the Korea SMEs & Startups Institute (KOSI), said, "The crux of the retirement age extension debate is not simply how many years to add, but designing a system that reflects the realities of small and midsize businesses, whose sizes, industries, and workforce structures vary."
Jo added, "Small and midsize businesses face the task of passing on the experience of skilled workers while expanding jobs and growth opportunities for young people. An employment structure where generations work and grow together will form the foundation that boosts SMEs' sustainable growth and competitiveness."