South Korea’s Youth Employment Rate Falls for 28th Consecutive Month

South Korea’s youth employment rate declined for a 28th consecutive month in August, underscoring a widening gap between younger job seekers and an economy supported by export-led growth.

The employment rate among people aged 15 to 29 stood at 44.1 percent, according to government data. The number of employed young people fell by 143,000 from a year earlier, extending its year-on-year decline to 46 straight months.

The deterioration contrasts with broader labor-market indicators. Total employment increased by 184,000 in August from the same month a year earlier, the largest gain in five months. The employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 reached 70.4 percent, the highest level recorded for August since the data series began in 1989.

Economic output has also remained firm. Real gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent from the previous quarter in the second quarter, while the annual growth rate is forecast at 3.3 percent. However, the semiconductor industry and other sectors driving the expansion do not necessarily create jobs in proportion to their output. The employment inducement coefficient, which tracks direct and indirect jobs generated for every 1 billion won in final demand, fell to 7.8 in 2024 from 8.2 a year earlier.

Structural changes are adding to the pressure on younger workers. Employers increasingly favor experienced candidates, while artificial intelligence is reshaping entry-level work. A Bank of Korea analysis found that 211,000 youth jobs disappeared in the three years through July 2025 and that 98.6 percent of those losses were in industries with high exposure to AI. The number of newly created jobs held by people aged 30 and younger stood at 2.363 million in the first quarter, the lowest since the statistics began in 2018.

The government has responded with a Youth Job Recovery Plan that aims to train more than 300,000 skilled workers by 2030 and create at least 300,000 jobs through private- and public-sector hiring and startup support. Separate measures include monthly payments of 1 million won for two years to eligible workers at small and midsized companies outside the capital region, along with expanded income-tax reductions. Officials expect the package to generate about 90,000 jobs next year.

Critics argue that subsidies and short-term publicly funded positions may not produce durable career paths. The latest figures suggest the central policy challenge is not simply expanding employment, but ensuring that growth produces stable openings through which younger workers can enter the labor market.