More young workers start in nonregular jobs, widening regular employment gap: study
Summary
More young workers are starting their careers in nonregular jobs, widening Korea’s gap between regular and nonregular employment, according to a National Assembly Futures Institute report. One in three people born between 1989 and 1998 began in nonregular jobs, nearly twice the rate of those born between 1969 and 1978. The report also found that first-job stability has weakened across generations, with average tenure falling and long-term regular-job retention dropping sharply among the youngest group.
Key Facts
- The report analyzed the first jobs of 14,241 people born between 1962 and 1998.
- The share of people who started as nonregular workers rose from 12.7 percent for those born between 1962 and 1968 to 33.5 percent for those born between 1989 and 1998.
- Average tenure in the first job fell from 70 months for the 1962 to 1968 cohort to 45.6 months for the 1989 to 1998 cohort.
A job seeker stands in front of employment information posters at a university career center in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
The gap between Korea's regular and nonregular workers is widening, with more young people starting their careers in nonregular jobs than in previous generations.
According to a report by the National Assembly Futures Institute on Thursday, one in three people born between 1989 and 1998 started their careers in nonregular jobs, nearly twice the rate for those born between 1969 and 1978, who entered the labor market around the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The report analyzed the first jobs of 14,241 people born between 1962 and 1998.
The share of those who started as nonregular workers rose steadily across generations. The rate stood at 12.7 percent for those born between 1962 and 1968, who experienced Korea's period of high economic growth.
That share then climbed to 17.4 percent for the generation that lived through the financial crisis, born between 1969 and 1978, and 28.7 percent for the pre- and post- financial crisis generation, born between 1979 and 1988. It reached 33.5 percent for those born between 1989 and 1998, who came of age as Korea's economic growth slowed.
Job stability at first employment also declined, with average tenure falling from 70 months for those born between 1962 and 1968 to 45.6 months for those born between 1989 and 1998.
Among that youngest group, people who started their first job as regular workers remained in regular employment for about eight years and three months over the following decade. Their average unemployment period was 10.8 months.
By contrast, those who started as nonregular workers spent only about three years and one month in regular employment during the following decade, suggesting that some later moved into regular jobs but for far shorter periods than those who began in regular employment. Their average time out of work was 35.6 months, about three times that of their counterparts who began in regular jobs.
Among those who started as nonregular workers, 71.2 percent moved into regular employment at least once within 10 years, while the remaining 28.8 percent never made that transition. The transition took an average of four years and 10 months for those who made it.
Long-term job stability also fell sharply across generations. While 56.5 percent of those born between 1962 and 1968 remained in a single regular position for 10 years after their first job, that share fell to just 21.9 percent for those born between 1989 and 1998.
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