The Bank of Korea (BOK) on the 14th said a recent decline in the labor force participation rate among 25–34-year-old men with a four-year college degree or higher was due to intensified competition with women. The BOK analyzed that for young men with an education level of high school or below, entry into the labor market may have become more difficult as manufacturing and construction jobs declined amid industrial structural changes.
On this day, the Bank of Korea (BOK) released a report titled "Assessment of the downward trend in the labor force participation rate of young men." Korea's overall labor force participation rate rose from 61.2% in 2000 to 64.5% last year. During this period, women ages 25–34 jumped from 52.4% to 77.5%, while men of the same age fell from 89.9% to 82.3%.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) said, "The downward trend in the labor force participation rate of young men is common in most major advanced economies, including the United States, but the decline in Korea is the largest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and the trend is steep." The OECD labor force participation rate for young men exceeds 90% as of 2024.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) viewed intensified competition with women as one of the reasons for the decline in the labor force participation rate among highly educated young men with four-year college degrees or higher. According to a cohort (same-group) analysis, for men, the younger the age, the lower the labor force participation rate. For example, the labor force participation rate of men born between 1991 and 1995 was 15.7 percentage points lower than those born between 1961 and 1970. In contrast, for women, the younger the age, the higher the labor force participation rate. This suggests women may have replaced men in the labor market.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) said, "As women's labor supply has increased significantly, centered on the highly educated, young men appear to be facing even more intensified competition than before." Among young people with four-year degrees or higher, the ratio of women to men in the labor force surged from 51.5% in 2000 to 95.5% last year.
For young men with an education level of high school or below, the Bank of Korea (BOK) analyzed that industrial structural changes have made it harder to enter the labor market. Jobs in manufacturing and construction are declining, while those in services are increasing. The sectors where jobs have decreased were those in which young men with high school education or below had mainly worked, whereas women have predominantly worked in services.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) also viewed the lengthening of work periods for older workers and the introduction of AI across industries as having overall reduced youth jobs. Employment among older workers has increased mainly in high-education jobs such as managers, professionals, and office workers. This means young people who prefer such jobs inevitably enter the labor market relatively later. In addition, 98.3% of youth jobs lost over the past four years are said to be concentrated in industries with high AI exposure.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) pointed out, "Korea's labor market, characterized by strong employment rigidity, has a structure in which burdens imposed on corporations due to measures such as extended retirement age are shifted to young people, who are outsiders to the labor market." It added, "Measures should also be prepared to reasonably adjust the excessive level of employment protection in the primary labor market centered on regular workers and large companies, and to raise the conversion rate of nonregular workers to regular positions."