“We Want Jobs”: Confronting Unemployment Crisis in South Korea

Students in South Korea often hear these “words of wisdom” from adults as they grow up: “If you study hard and get accepted to a good university, your life will be set and you will have a happy life,” or “Do you want to suffer 3 years in high school from studying hard, or do you want to live 60 years with eternal regret from not having a successful future?”

The academic-crazed society and environment of South Korea forces the students to study assiduously, to the extent that elementary school students start going to academies every day and that 12th-grade students sleep only 2 or 3 hours per day in order to study. Of these hardworking students, the few who are at the top of their schools, of their districts, and of their cities are eventually accepted by SKY Universities (an acronym for Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University, the three best universities in South Korea). Yet, those students who expected a luminous destiny after attending SKY become disillusioned with the reality of South Korea as they face a severe unemployment crisis.

The employment rate of people between 15 and 29 is lower than ever: 42%. Of five different age populations, 15-29 is the only column which showed a decrease in employment rate compared to last year. This is a severe problem since 42% employment rate does not mean that all of the people in the 42% earned their dream jobs. For prestigious jobs like diplomats, Samsung employee, or doctor, the employment rate is usually 1-2% due to extreme competition among people.

Another startling fact is that even for graduates of SKY, getting a job is extremely difficult. The employment rate of Seoul National University (SNU) graduates is lower than 50% (Seoul National University is undoubtedly the best university in South Korea). This means that for graduates from other universities, the employment rate would be even lower. Furthermore, majoring in humanities makes getting jobs more difficult.

[Anonymous] Kim, a graduate of a humanities major in Yonsei University, applied to 25 different companies and was accepted to only one of them. She said, “My college grades and English score both surpass average, but I couldn’t even get past the preliminary test for the jobs I applied to. The situation is similar for other university graduates who majored in humanities.” For students who graduated from universities outside of Seoul, they struggle significantly due to both economic problems and unemployment. They need to rent a small one room to live in Seoul and work to pay off the high rent. Youth employment rate of students who graduated from a university in Seoul is 42.1% while the employment rate of all students who graduated from a university outside of Seoul is 37.1%. Despite the high rent and competition, students do not dare to leave Seoul because Seoul is the center of all economic, cultural, and political activities in Korea.

Are there no plausible solutions to this unemployment crisis for the youth of Korea? Japan, one of the G7 countries, established approximately 200 youth employment centers where they helped the youth of Japan have appointments with them and find suitable jobs. This method was an effective solution to both short-term and long-term problems, proven by its effectiveness in reducing Japan’s unemployment issues.

In contrast, the South Korean government’s solution to unemployment is a palliative rather than a curative because it does not solve the roots of the unemployment issue. To support the youth who are often devoid of financial stability, the government recently raised the minimum wage by about 1000 Korean Won (KRW) compared to last year, making the minimum wage 7530KRW (1000KRW is equivalent to $0.94). The government also increased civilians’ life pension to financially support all Korean citizens regardless of their age, gender, or socioeconomic status. However, these policies did not achieve their beneficiary purposes, but instead backfired; increased minimum wage caused more stress for employers, and thus, they truncated the number of positions. This resulted in a higher unemployment rate for the youth. To solve both short-term and long-term unemployment problems, the Korean government must provide the youth with job positions so that they have the ability needed for subsistence, instead of merely giving them money. If the youth possesses the knowledge and skills to do a certain job, they could do it and live autonomously rather than depending on the government for “allowances”.

The young generation is the future of a country. However, as the world develops rapidly, competition is fiercer than ever, and millions of youth across the world struggle to have their dream jobs. The truth is that thirty years ago, the competition was less intense, and there were more jobs available for the youth. The doctors, diplomats, CEOs, world leaders, and public figures we see today around us are the ones who worked assiduously to stand where they stand today. Now, the task for them is to not criticize the youth for not working hard as they did in their 20’s and 30’s. Also, today’s youth should not complain that competition nowadays is harder than it was thirty years ago. Concerted efforts to solve unemployment issues and to establish a better future for the next generation must be given by all people regardless of their age, sex, and financial circumstances.

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