Trend Shrinking and increasingly inactive youth labour supply in Korea

Summary

The report identifies a youth labour supply problem that combines a shrinking cohort with delayed and unstable entry into work. As young people stay longer in higher education and take more time preparing for jobs after graduation, their entry into the labour market keeps getting later. Their unemployment is higher than in other age groups, and difficult access to regular jobs pushes many into contract or dispatched work with weak security. A serious mismatch between the skills industry wants and those young people hold further blocks them from realising their wish to work. KEIS warns that if the rising share of young people staying economically inactive proves more than temporary, it could hold back future participation gains.