Over half of young Koreans seeking jobs are preparing to take state examinations to become public servants or certified professionals, a report by the Korea Employment Information Service showed Sunday.

The number of those aged 15-29 preparing for employment surged to 542,000 last year, compared to 410,000 in 2014, 410,000 in 2011, 442,000 in 2010 and 455,000 in 2008. The report explained that the rise in the number of job seekers appeared to be proportional to the economic slowdown.

Among job seekers aged 20-24, those who were preparing to take state exams or who have done so already reached 47.9 percent. It was higher, at 53.9 percent, for those aged 25-29.

The largest number, or 45.5 percent, of them were preparing to become entry-level, or 9th grade, public servants. Following were those readying to take exams to become teachers (14.9 percent), accountants and other professionals (12.0 percent) and slightly higher-ranking 7th grade public servants and other positions in public service (4.6 percent). 

The report said the trend appeared to show the rising preference toward securing more stable employment in the midst of an economic slump.

The phenomenon was also evident in another report also released by the agency Sunday.

By tracing the job statuses of some 18,000 college graduates aged 20-34, it showed that 72.1 percent of them had succeeded in landing their first job as of 2014.

Of those graduates, 10.4 percent were hired by large companies with at least 300 employees as regular workers. The other 34.3 percent were hired as regular workers at smaller businesses, 21.2 percent as irregular workers at small or medium-sized businesses and 6.1 percent as irregular employees at large businesses.

The wage gap was significant, with the monthly salary of irregular workers at big companies rating 77.1 percent of that of regular workers. Comparatively, the figure was 76.0 percent for regular workers and 68.7 for irregular workers at smaller businesses.

While only 12.3 percent of college graduates with regular jobs at bigger companies left, 27.9 percent of those with regular positions in smaller companies and 29.3 percent of irregular workers at bigger companies did so. Some 40.8 percent of irregular workers at smaller companies quit.

Regular workers regardless of the company size tended to quit to seek for better work opportunities, while irregular workers left as their contract period ended, the report said.

“Involuntary resignation of young college graduates create additional cost for reemployment, and acts as a factor to raise the unemployment rate,” said researcher Kim Ha-young. Kim added that the results showcased the importance of creating a labor market that enabled young college graduates to settle down.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)