‘Resting’ young Koreans nearly double over decade, driven by reemployment burnout

More young Koreans in their 30s and under are dropping out of the labor force despite a shrinking youth population. gettyimagesbank

The share of people in their 30s and younger who are neither working nor seeking employment, categorized as “resting,” has nearly doubled over the past 10 years, despite a shrinking youth population in Korea.

A growing number are affected by what experts call “reemployment burnout,” a phenomenon where people drop out of the labor force after leaving a job and never return.

According to job-related microdata from Korea Statistics, analyzed by the Hankook Ilbo on Wednesday, 683,894 individuals aged 15 to 39 were classified as “resting” as of last month.

Of these, 82 percent, or 560,991 people, had previously been employed but gave up looking for work after quitting. That figure is 4.6 times higher than the number of those who have never held a job.

The analysis expanded the standard 15-29 age bracket commonly used to define “youth” in official data, considering that the age of first employment has risen and those in their 30s are still in their prime working years.

The number of “resting” individuals aged 15 to 39 peaked at a record 820,000 in February. Compared to 441,923 in May 2016, the current figure marks a 54.8 percent increase.

This occurred even as the total population in that age group declined by 2.15 million over the same period, suggesting that an increasing portion of working-age youth are voluntarily exiting the labor market.

The share of “resting” individuals in this age group rose from 2.6 percent in 2016 to 4.6 percent this year. Among resting individuals, the proportion who had previously held jobs but were not looking for another increased by 5 percentage points.

When asked why they left their jobs, the most common response was “personal or family-related reasons” (39 percent), followed by dissatisfaction with working conditions, such as hours or pay (34 percent) and the expiration of temporary or seasonal jobs (15 percent).

Those who wanted to work but remained out of the labor force said it was because they believed there were no suitable jobs offering adequate wages or working conditions (42 percent) or because they had looked before but found nothing (24 percent).

“Many young people find that their jobs fall short of expectations in terms of stability or career prospects, and they come to think that taking a break and reconsidering their path is better than staying in a precarious position. That often leads to career disruption," said Kim Sung-hee, a professor at Korea University’s Graduate School of Labor Studies.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.