By Kang Seung-woo
Restructuring local universities is one of the top priorities the government should focus on in order to tackle worsening youth employment, a local business lobby said Tuesday.
According to a report issued by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a lot of uncompetitive colleges in Korea produce a surplus of highly-educated individuals and it is difficult for them to find jobs in the tightening labor market.
It said that university restructuring should be conducted to cope with the imbalance between reducing jobs available and increasing job seekers.
A government report earlier said only about 55 percent of some 540,000 people who graduated from college between August 2009 and February this year found jobs.
Along with the restructuring, increasing decent jobs and offering employment-footed education are other options in efforts to bring down the jobless rate, the FKI said.
Young job seekers create an ongoing headache for the government.
According to the OECD, Korea’s youth unemployment rate was at 9.8 percent in 2009, 6.9 percent less compared to the OECD’s average of 16.7 percent, but the jobless rate among youth aged between 15 and 29 accounted for 22.9 percent, way below its average of 40.1 percent. Worse, the ratio has annually declined.
The FKI pointed the finger at an increasingly large number of graduates and a diminishing number of decent jobs.
It added that the number of university graduates has doubled in the past 20 years, while job creation has failed to keep pace with it, with 400,000 jobs decreasing.
To make things worse, the gap between substantial and desired wages is another barrier to tackle in regards to youth employment, as it has expanded to 6 million won.
As far as university restructuring is concerned, the FKI said it should be based on employment rates rather than financial structure. In the 2009 estimation of colleges, it mainly focused on poor management.
It said that colleges whose employment rate is less than two thirds of the average should be restructured.
As for national universities, those with similar programs in the same area should merge, while system reform and incentives are needed in restructuring poorly-managed private colleges.
The service industry has been one of the most sought-after areas among young graduates and it is seen as an alternative to hammer out low youth employment.
The report says that the service sector represents 6 percent of the government’s total support of the industries in 2007 and its backing should be expanded to create more jobs.
In addition, it said that industry-academic programs should be devised to help graduates be better prepared for jobs in advance.