The number of registered job seekers entering the labor market or changing jobs has declined for two consecutive years. Additionally, the number of young people aged 15 to 29 entering the job market has also decreased.
According to the "2024 Job Mobility Statistics" released by the National Data Agency on June 4, the total number of registered job seekers increased by 105,000 (0.4%) from the previous year to 26.25 million. Registered job seekers are defined as wage and non-wage workers reported to public institutions based on administrative data related to the four major social insurances.
While the number of workers maintaining their jobs has increased, the population entering the job market or changing jobs has decreased. In 2024, the number of new entrants was 3.482 million, down 164,000 (-4.5%) from the previous year, with an entry rate of 13.3%, a drop of 0.7 percentage points.
During the same period, the number of job changers decreased by 103,000 (-2.6%) to 3.838 million, resulting in a mobility rate of only 14.7%, down 0.5 percentage points. The number of non-registered workers was 3.377 million, a decrease of 181,000 (-5.1%) from the previous year.
Conversely, the number of workers who maintained their jobs increased by 373,000 (2.0%) to 18.9 million, with a retention rate rising by 1.1 percentage points to 72.1%.
By age group, the entry and mobility rates were highest among those under 29, but the number of young entrants has been declining each year. The number of new entrants aged 15 to 29 fell from 1.309 million in 2022 to 1.203 million in 2023, and further to 1.13 million in 2024. The proportion of this age group also decreased from 33.2% in 2022 to 31.6% in 2023, and 31.1% in 2024.
When analyzing the retention rates by age group for 2023, those in their 40s had the highest rate at 78.9%, followed by those in their 50s at 78.4%, 30s at 73.4%, and those aged 60 and over at 73.0%. In contrast, the retention rate for young workers was only 47.6%.
Examining mobility rates by company size, small businesses had a mobility rate of 16.8% and an entry rate of 14.9%, surpassing large enterprises. The proportion of workers moving from large to large enterprises was 37.0%, while 56.6% of workers transitioned from large to small businesses. Conversely, only 11.8% moved from small businesses to large enterprises.
By organizational type, the entry rate was highest for individual enterprises, recorded at 16.0%. The retention rate for jobs that continued a year later was 80.7% for government and non-profit organizations, meaning eight out of ten workers remained in the same job. The mobility rate was highest for corporate entities at 18.8%.
Additionally, 57.8% of workers who changed jobs did so for positions with increased wages, while 41.3% moved to jobs with decreased wages.
Over the past five years since 2019, while the number of job holders and retention rates have gradually decreased, the number of job changers and new entrants has shown an upward trend.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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