Publication
The Korean Economic Forum
A Study on the Labor Market Participation Status and Employment Performance of Young People in Korea
Kyoung-Ah Kim (Small Enterprise Policy Research Center)Year 2024Vol. 17No. 2
Abstract
In this study, we examined the labor market entry status and employment
performance of young people in Korea through empirical analysis of integrated
data from the Employment Insurance DB, Worknet DB, Ilmoa DB, Unemployment Benefit DB, and Employment Service Business Details DB. The
analysis results are summarized as follows. First, about 56.83% of the young
people hope to get a full-time job, and even within the youth group, the older
they get, the more they prefer a full-time job as their desired form of
employment, and the proportion of young people majoring in social studies and
engineering had the highest percentage of people wanting to get a full-time job.
In addition, the more young people have experience working at small and
medium-sized enterprises, the more likely they are to have full-time
employment, and the most preferred occupations are management and
administrative office work. Second, as a result of examining the employment
status of young people in Korea, the job search period was found to be relatively
long for women, young people, middle school graduates or younger, those in humanities, arts and physical education, and those with experience of
involuntary unemployment. Third, as a result of examining the factors that affect
the employment performance of domestic youth, it was found that youth groups
that participated in public employment service support projects, female youth,
and youth from vulnerable groups had a low probability of being employed,
making it difficult for these youth groups to enter the labor market itself. It was
found that there was a high probability that they would fall into the
employment-vulnerable class that was experiencing difficulties. Therefore, it
appears that there is a need to explore additional public support policies to help
these youth groups enter the labor market.