Young workers in Korean firms keep decreasing: report
As the average age of South Korea keeps inching up, a report on Wednesday showed that the percentage of workers in their 20s on the payroll of major firms here has dwindled to roughly one out of every five in 2024.
According to a report by CEO Score, a local corporate data analysis website, the figure steadily declined from 24.8 percent in 2022 to 22.7 percent in 2023, reaching 21 percent last year. This decrease was mirrored by a consistent rise in the proportion of workers in their 30s, which climbed from 75.2 percent in 2022 to 77.3 percent in 2023, and further to 79 percent in 2024.
The findings are based on an analysis of sustainable management reports submitted by 67 of the top 100 South Korean corporations by sales, examining employee numbers and age demographics between 2022 and 2024.
Over half of the surveyed firms, 38 companies, or 56.7 percent, logged a decrease in the number of employees in their 20s. The actual number dropped from 291,235 in 2022 to 243,737 in 2024. Conversely, the number of workers in their 30s rose from 880,747 to 915,979 in the same period.
Samsung Display marked the most drastic decrease in the share of 20-something workers, dropping from 43.8 percent in 2022 to 28.4 percent in 2024. It was followed by a 37 percent to 24.7 percent drop at SK On, and a 43.9 percent to 35 percent decrease at LG Innotek in the same period.
Hanwha Aerospace increased its percentage of workers in their 20s to 15.8 percent in 2024 from 7.5 percent in 2022, as did LX International (14.3 percent to 21 percent) and SK Energy (13.1 percent to 18.4 percent).
However, it is worth noting that most companies with significant increases in young workers started with a very low base. Out of the 10 companies that marked the largest increase in 20-something workers, only Hyundai Glovis (23.3 percent in 2024) had a higher percentage than the overall average of 21 percent in 2024.
"With the growing uncertainty in the economy, many companies have abolished or increased the regular hiring process for new employees, or switched to hiring on demand. They also tend to prefer workers with some work experience," CEO Score's chief Cho Won-man was quoted as saying.
What's behind it
Big companies in South Korea hold an annual hiring process for entry-level recruits known as "gongchae,' or "open recruitment," which traditionally serves as the primary gateway for new college graduates entering the workforce.
But reports have indicated that the job market for young people in the country has shrunken substantially recently. A December survey by job-search platform Incruit on 707 companies showed that 64.6 percent of them hired recruits fresh out of college, down from 75.4 percent in the same survey in 2021.
In a February survey by the Federation of Korean Industries, about 19.8 percent of the top 500 companies in terms of sales said they had no plan for open recruitment in the first half of 2025. Another 41.3 percent said they did not yet have specific plans.
There is also the factor that South Korea itself is a rapidly aging nation.
Government data in December showed that the country had officially become a "superaged society" as exactly 20 percent of its citizens were at least 65 years old. Another data by the Ministry of Interior and Safety in January showed that the average age of Koreans was 45.3 years as of 2024.
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