Issue Easing youth job mismatch and building industry-aligned training in Korea

Summary

KEIS attributes much of the fall in youth employment to a mismatch between young people seeking quality jobs and a labour market that mainly recruits experienced workers. It calls for continued expansion of work experience opportunities and customised employment services to raise the job readiness of high-school graduates and university students. The report also wants promising new-industry talent developed actively in response to structural change in industry. To reduce mismatches, curricula and academic systems should be run in line with the vocational competencies that industry requires. Citing German evidence that a higher share of temporary and short-term contracts raises flexibility but harms long-run productivity growth, the summary argues for stable, quality jobs that let young people grow into core industrial workers.