A (35), who lives in Seoul, quit a fashion company and has been resting at home for over four months. A checks job postings on job sites several times a day but has never actually applied. A said, "I can't even apply because the jobs are not related to what I used to do or they are non-regular positions." B (35) is in a similar situation. Preparing for pregnancy, B is looking for a company close to home or with relatively short working hours but has not been able to find one that meets the conditions.
On the 12th, it was confirmed that the number of young people who are "resting," neither working nor looking for jobs, topped 700,000 for the fifth straight month. That is the longest stretch on record. "Resting" youth are people in their 20s and 30s who, in the past week, answered in a Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS) survey that they were "just resting" without actively seeking work. They are classified as part of the economically inactive population, along with those engaged in child care or housework, preparing for employment, or preparing to enlist in the military.
According to the ministry that day, the number of "resting" youth came to 733,000 in July last year, then ▲763,000 in August ▲711,000 in September ▲736,000 in October ▲719,000 in November, staying above 700,000 for five consecutive months. Since the number of "resting youth" first exceeded 700,000 in Aug. 2020 (736,000), this is the first time it has remained in the 700,000 range for such a long period.
In the additional survey of the economically inactive population last August, the most common reason "resting" youth gave for resting was "because it is difficult to find the job I want." That contrasts with those in their 40s to 60s and older, who most often answered that they rested "because of poor health." Shin Se-don, an emeritus professor in the Department of Economics at Sookmyung Women's University, said, "In Korea, where the college enrollment rate is high, there are not many jobs that meet young people's expectations."
◇ Regular jobs aren't growing fast... the gap with non-regular jobs is widening
In fact, non-regular positions have increased faster than regular positions at corporations preferred by people in their 20s and 30s. According to the ministry, among college graduates, regular employees rose 16%, from 8.16 million to 9.44 million. Over the same period, non-regular workers increased 31%, from 2.52 million in 2020 to 3.30 million last year.
The pay gap between regular and non-regular workers is widening. The aggregates of hourly wages—money a worker earns in a month divided by monthly hours worked—show that in 2020 regular workers earned 20,731 won and non-regular workers 15,015 won, or 1.38 times more for regulars. By 2024, the gap had expanded to 1.50 times (regular 27,703 won; non-regular 18,404 won).
This situation is causing young people to fixate on "getting into a large corporation." Many think that even if they work hard for a long time at a small or midsize company, they cannot catch up to large-corporation pay. Woo Seok-jin, a professor at Myongji University, said, "Once you join a small or midsize company, it is not easy to move to a large corporation," adding, "Believing they cannot get out of small or midsize companies, they appear to keep preparing until a good opportunity comes."
The problem is that with Korea's economic growth rate down to the 1% to 2% range, it is difficult to quickly prepare a structural solution that would sharply increase the quality regular jobs young people want in a short time. The current administration is also pushing to extend the retirement age, which may be out of step with creating youth jobs. The Ministry of Employment and Labor, the lead ministry for youth employment policy, said it would first try to change negative social perceptions of "resting" youth by renaming them "in preparation" youth. A Finance Ministry official also said, "As 'resting' youth have become a frequent topic lately, we are considering (measures) jointly with related ministries."