[THE INVESTOR] Although the youth employment rate increased last year, there was less job security in the market, a study said on July 1.

The report by the Korean Employment Information Service said 68,000 more people in their 20s were employed last year compared to a year before. The increase contrasts with those in their 30s, whose employment fell by 38,000, and also those in their 40s whose number decreased 14,000.

But a closer look showed that the types of jobs younger hires held were mainly menial work. 


The study said there were 23,000 more people in their 20s working as security guards, building cleaners, delivery personnel and in other physically demanding jobs compared to the year before.

The number of people of the same age group working in sales increased by 22,000 and those in machine and equipment operations by 16,000. The increase in professional jobs stopped at 8,000, while desk jobholders fell by 3,000.

Short-term contract jobs were also common.

For the 15-29 age group, 20.7 percent of first jobs after graduation were on a contract of one year or shorter, up from 8.7 percent in 2006.

Discontent over such job market conditions was growing. A survey of the group who quit their job less than a year ago found that 15.8 percent left because they were dissatisfied with the work hours and pay level. The number is a steady increase from 12 percent in 2013 and 14.1 percent in 2014.

“Employment policies need to be executed in a way that addresses the different types of qualifications of young job seekers, such as new graduates and high school graduates,” the author Park Jin-hee said.

“The mismatch between employers and job searchers has to be resolved by establishing a channel to keep the youths steadily informed of the good jobs available.”

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)