| Korean employees in their 20s and 30s from January to May declined 322,000 from the same period a year ago. |
Triple worries are getting remarkable in Korean labor market for job seekers in their 20s and 30s. Number of jobs, starting salary of university graduates and lifelong income are all falling at the same time.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) and Korea National Statistical Office (NSO) announced Sunday that the number of Korean employees in their 20s and 30s from January to May declined 322,000 from the same period a year ago. It was one of the highest on record since 1999 right after the foreign exchange crisis.
The Korean Government forecasted the new jobs to shrink from 200 thousand to 100 thousand to 150 thousand in the second half of this year, but it is expected that the employment trend of job seekers in their 20s and 30s would not meet with the government's forecast.
The employees in their 20s and 30s declined 322,000 in January, 338,000 in February, 359,000 in March, 322,000 in April and 289,000 in May. Especially for employees in their 30s, the range of decline got larger from 167 thousand in February to 211,000 in May.
The employment of job seekers in their 20s and 30s got worse in that they had a great influence of business conditions.
The correlation coefficients between the rate of rise and fall on job seekers for each age and the growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) from 1995 to the first quarter of this year were shown as 0.36 in the 50s and 0.77 in the 40s, displaying relatively low correlation. However, those in 15 to 29 and the 30s showed the higher correlation coefficients as 0.85 and 0.84, respectively, according to a survey on the correlation conducted by Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI).
In addition to a decline in jobs, the starting salaries for the first work are getting contracted in the Korean labor market.
According to a survey conducted by an employment portal site Incruit, the starting salaries of university graduates in 330 listed companies dropped 1.62 million won for large enterprises and 900 thousand won for small and medium ones in April.
Besides the decline in jobs and reduction of salaries, it is also expected that even lifelong incomes will largely fall for the youth unemployed in future.
The BOK analyzed that if a 25-year-old young man is under unemployed for one year, he will loss 280 million won for his whole life.
By Jung, Eunsun
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