Young workers say raising retirement age will hurt efficiency, older people disagree
As South Korea mulls raising the legal retirement age from 60 to 65, a generational divide is growing, with younger and older Koreans split over the potential impact on productivity, employment opportunities and workplace dynamics.
A recent survey by the Korea Enterprises Federation found that 59 percent of respondents aged 20-34 believe raising the retirement age will be detrimental to work efficiency, while 62.6 percent of those aged 45-59, who have been in the workforce for at least 15 years, said it would not.
The survey, conducted on two separate groups of 500 people -- one from the 20-34 age group without jobs and another from the 45-59 age group who have worked for at least 15 years -- also revealed disagreement on whether the higher retirement age would diminish job opportunities for young people.
About 61.6 percent of young respondents said it would, while 50.6 percent of older respondents said it would not.
The debate comes as a record number of Koreans over 60 remain in the workforce. According to government data in June, 60 percent of 60-somethings had jobs, just slightly lower than the 60.3 percent recorded for those in their 20s.
With employment contracts generally ending when workers turn 60, the survey also showed disagreement about the best policy for enabling people to work beyond that age.
Young people were split almost evenly between three options: allowing firms to choose whether to retain workers past 60 (36.8 percent), having firms formally terminate employees at 60 and then rehire them (31.8 percent), and mandating an extension of the retirement age by law (31.4 percent).
But nearly half of the older respondents (46.8 percent) support the third idea -- the one least supported by the youth group -- that the government itself should mandate the change by raising the legal retirement age.
However, a majority of respondents from both groups expressed concern that a greater number of older workers in a company could lead to workplace conflicts over the generational divide, work styles, difficulty adapting to new technology and overall communication. Those concerns were greater among the younger group, of whom 80.8 percent said the change would cause problems, while only 63.2 percent of the older group said the same.
Officials at the KEF said raising the retirement age to 65 requires a cautious approach as it may frustrate young people not yet in the labor market, who may see the change as taking away their job opportunities.
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