Issue Restructuring of Korea's labour market under population decline

Summary

Amid deepening regional depopulation, Korea's labour market is undergoing structural change marked by slowing productivity and deteriorating job quality. The survey attributes this to population decline, shifts in industrial structure, limited adaptation to technological innovation and institutional rigidity. Government and industry are expanding the employment of foreign workers and immigrants to secure labour, but competition with native workers, workplace safety and social integration are emerging as new issues. AI and robotic automation are drawing attention as answers to labour shortages, so technology-driven restructuring is gathering pace while low-skill work is automated and upskilling advances in parallel. The outflow of young people to the capital region and the growing share of older workers are cutting labour supply in both quantity and quality, and gaps in AI capability between large and small firms and between regions remain wide.