The number of young people classified as 'resting,' or those capable of working but not actively job hunting, has surpassed 500,000. This is the first time that the number of young people categorized as 'resting' has reached this level since the statistics began to be compiled. Even young people engaged in economic activities are seeing a decrease in employment and an increase in unemployment. The government has been investing billions of won into youth job creation budgets, but the situation appears to be worsening.
According to the 'February employment trends' reported by the National Statistical Office on the 12th, all employment indicators related to the youth (ages 15 to 29) worsened compared to the previous month. The number of employed young people decreased by 235,000 compared to a year ago, while the number of unemployed increased by 5,000. The employment rate, considering the entire population, fell by 1.7 percentage points to 44.3%, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.5 percentage points to 7%. February's employment rate is the lowest in four years since February 2021.
◇ The employment reality for youth is bleak for both economic and non-economic active populations
The issue is further compounded by the fact that not only the economically active population (employed and unemployed) but also the potential economic active population, which includes the non-economic active population, shows a lack of vitality among young people. The number of young people classified as 'resting' is 504,000, an increase of 61,000 from the previous year. Among the young population, it is the 'resting' increase among young adults in their 20s who are not teenagers that is notable. This is the first time since the statistics began to be compiled in 2003 that the number of young people categorized as 'resting' has reached 500,000, representing the highest level ever.
'Resting' refers to those who are capable of working but are not actively job hunting. The government has determined that 60% of the 'resting' young people have work experience and plan to get employed within a year, while the remaining 40% are seen as lacking motivation.
The main reason these individuals are categorized as 'resting' is attributed to the difficulty in finding desired jobs. A recent survey conducted by the Korea Employment Information Service on 3,000 young people who have experienced 'resting' for over a year revealed that the reasons for choosing 'resting' included: ▲ Lack of suitable job opportunities (38.1%, multiple responses allowed), ▲ Education and self-development (35.0%), ▲ Burnout (27.7%), and ▲ Psychological and mental health issues (25.0%).
The percentage of those who responded that the 'resting' state is unstable reached 77.2%. Experts note that the anxiety experienced during this process poses a significant risk of leading to isolation and reclusion. According to the 'Youth Life Status Survey' conducted by the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the ratio of isolated and reclusive youth increased to 5.2% last year, more than doubling from two years prior, which could be linked to employment issues.
The problem of worsening youth employment is also related to marriage and childbirth, which the government currently views as the biggest imminent crisis. The percentage of unmarried young people with marriage plans dropped sharply from 75.3% in 2022 to 63.1% last year, and the intention to give birth also decreased from 63.3% to 59.3%. Lee Cheol-hee, head of the Population Cluster at the National Strategy Institute at Seoul National University, mentioned, "This deterioration in perception has arisen due to various indicators related to youth, such as employment rates and the proportion of non-regular workers, worsening over the past two years."
◇ 'Youth employment' has seen billion-won budgets invested for years, yet is still ineffective
The government also takes the youth employment issue seriously and has been implementing various measures for several years. Director Jang Joo-seong of the Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "For the 60% of 'resting' young people who plan to get a job, we are providing job matching services, while we started to operate the 'Youth Employment All-Care Platform' from March for the remaining 40% who lack job-seeking motivation." The Youth Employment All-Care Platform is a tailor-made platform that provides information on job training and internship opportunities to youths who have remained 'unemployed' for more than four months after graduation. Recently, the government also signed an agreement with six major economic organizations to create jobs under the slogan, "Let's increase new hires this year."
The budget allocated for youth employment is also increasing each year. The government expanded its youth employment budget from 1.9689 trillion won last year to 2.2922 trillion won this year. Specific initiatives include: ▲ Youth Employment All-Care Platform (175 billion won), ▲ Work experience (internship connection) program (214.1 billion won), ▲ K-Digital Training (digital industry hands-on experience and education) (478.1 billion won), ▲ Jump start incentive (support for companies hiring youth) (777.2 billion won), and ▲ Youth challenge support (counseling, confidence restoration, and career counseling programs for job seekers who have given up) (71.7 billion won).
However, the reality is that these efforts are proving ineffective. Specifically, the issue of young people categorized as 'resting' was presented as a major agenda for the government to address since the time of former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho in 2023, but nearly two years have passed, and the situation has worsened rather than improved.
◇ 'Policies must be carefully designed considering the various aspects of “resting”'
Experts point out that there are various aspects to youth 'resting' and emphasize the need for detailed policies that correspond to these aspects.
Kim Yoo-bin, a researcher at the Korea Labor Institute, stated, "The population of young people categorized as 'resting' has long been maintained at around 400,000 but has recently risen to 500,000, which represents a downward trend in productivity nationally. However, it is essential to consider that there is a diverse distribution within the 'resting' youth population."
He noted, "While the labor market conditions are poor, some also believe that there is no need for 'income-generating activities' due to living alone. This indicates a trend of resting driven by personal necessity. However, since policies tailored to such specific needs are still lacking, they do not reach the 'resting' youth."
The government believes there is a need to observe how various youth job creation policies perform before drawing any conclusions. In particular, there is a certain level of hope placed on the Youth Employment All-Care Platform launched this month.
The government has obtained consent to provide information from 1.3 million university students and is primarily monitoring 550,000 expected graduates this year. The goal is to help 50,000 among them who have been in prolonged unemployment to enter the labor market this year. Director Jang stated, "Since we have signed agreements for new hires with corporations, we expect to see results from our efforts this year as well."