Signal STEM graduate numbers projected to fall from 93,000 to 51,000 by 2050 as the path to employment lengthens

Summary

The plan reports that the absolute size of Korea's talent pool is shrinking as the school-age population falls sharply because of low fertility. It cites education statistics and a STEPI projection showing that the number of domestic master's and doctoral students in science and engineering was 93,000 in 2023 and could drop to 51,000 by 2050. At the same time the time it takes to move from education to employment is lengthening. The average age of new university-graduate hires rose from 25.1 in 1998 to 31 in 2020, according to a recruitment firm survey cited by the plan. The plan concludes from these figures that talent development is underperforming.