Youth unemployment weighs on economy

By Kim Jae-won

Staff reporter

The Korean economy has been haunted by the specter of jobless growth ― economic expansion with no job creation. The concern has been waning in line with a mild recovery in the local job market fueled by a fast economic rebound.

However, the country is faced with another malaise in the job market ― youth unemployment. Joblessness among young adults has continued on an upward spiral despite a slight recovery in the overall job market. This is seen as a serious problem for the economy as theproblem has a lasting impact on the entire economy through multiple channels.

According to Statistics Korea, the employment rate among those aged from 20 to 29 logged 59.2 percent last month, down 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier. The jobseekers in their 20s are the only age group which suffered from a decrease in employment except for those in their 60s.

Analysts said that the rate is falling as the private sector has shunned recruiting young job seekers due to an uncertain economic future.

“Although the local economy is getting back on track faster than expected, companies are still concerned about lingering uncertainties. As a result, they have relied on experienced workers who can contribute to immediately increasing output,” Lee Geun-tae, an economist of LG Economic Research Institute, said.

He expects that this trend is likely to continue in the second half of the year.

“Worries about the economic outlook due to worries about a double-dip recession and an expansion of the eurozone’s debt crisis, mean the jobless rate among young people will stay at a high level.”

Labor policies in question

It seems that the government has realized the seriousness of the problem. It plans to unveil a comprehensive measure to hammer out the issue, but students are doubtful of the effectiveness of labor policies.

“We need to come up with effective solutions for youth unemployment because the poor situation has continued,” Minister of Strategy and Finance Yoon Jeung-hyun said recently.

However, young jobseekers criticized government’s labor policies saying the nation is following the wrong model of the United States.

“The government pursues an American labor system, which increases the flexibility of the labor market. However, I think this system is not fit for Koreans. Job stability is more important than a high salary. ‘Lifelong office’ is a better concept for us,” Sangmyung University student Nancy Lee said.

Another student criticized the government’s internship programs for young students.

“We want to do something. We want to learn practical skills, but the program cannot meet the needs,” Lee Jae-eun, who studies Chinese education at Sangmyung, said.

“My sister worked for a government office as an intern. She expected to learn something there, but she was asked to do trivial tasks. I cannot find the difference between an internship and temporary work.

“Moreover, government officials look down on young interns, and some of them even say ‘you are useless.’ It is an insult for us.”

Unfairness in job market

College students claimed in unison that unfairness in the job market is one of the most important issues to solve the youth jobless problem.

“I wish everybody would become a contract worker,” Jenya Kim, 28, who is also studying Chinese language education for her master’s degree at the college said.

“Why do the older generation take permanent jobs, while most of the youth work as contract workers. If everybody cannot get a permanent job, then isn’t it fair that everybody becomes a temporary worker?”

Lee Sun-nyeo, 24, shared her bad experience in job hunting.

“I applied for a position, and got an interview. However, the company said it cannot pay me in the level of graduate students. I did not ask for much, but the firm suggested the salary level of a high school graduate. It was just like the salary of a teaching assistant.”

Jobseekers also say that every job seeker should be given an equal chance regardless of the reputation of their university.

“Not many companies want to hire those who studied liberal arts. Some big companies hire them, but those are limited to the so called ‘SKY’ graduates.” SKY is the acronym for Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University, three prestigious schools in the nation.

She is right.

In 2009, some 11,000 students graduated from the three universities, accounting for 5.2 percent of the total graduates nationwide. However, they took up more than 21 percent of the new hires at large corporations, an online job portal Easy Survey said last month.

“I had so many certificates in Chinese language, but companies do not give me a chance because I am not from a particularly famous school. I applied to so many companies, but it is hard to get a chance to be interviewed. I hope at least I could get a chance to show my capabilities,” Lee Seon-nyeo, said.

Solutions

Students said that the government should make a greater effort to create more permanent jobs for them based on long-term perspectives.

“The Lee Myung-bak administration seems to show better results in creating many temporary jobs and internship programs. However, we need permanent jobs which require stability,” Nancy Lee said.

“For example, the government hires only a few public teachers. Last year only two Chinese teachers were hired in Seoul. I hope the government increases this number to solve the jobless problem as well as increases the quality of education,” Lee, who is preparing for the test for public schools in 2011, said.

Experts said that job education is a key factor in solving the problem.

“Schools need to educate students on what the society needs. We had better follow a German education model, which teaches teenage students job skills systemically,” Kwon Soon-woo, chief economist at Samsung Economic Research Institute, said.

“Society also needs to accept such skilled workers without any prejudice. That’s a very important way to decrease the youth jobless problem.”