A man looks at a job information board as he visits the Seobu employment information service in Seoul, South Korea. Photo by JEON HEON-KYUN / EPA
Aug. 10 (Asia Today) — The number of young South Koreans enrolled in employment insurance fell for the 47th consecutive month in July as companies favored experienced workers and increasingly adopted artificial intelligence and robotics, government data showed Monday.
Manufacturing employment insurance enrollment also declined for a 14th consecutive month amid weakness in several major industries.
The Labor Ministry estimated that about 60% of the decline among workers age 29 and younger was attributable to South Korea’s shrinking youth population while roughly 40% reflected declining employment.
The number of people regularly enrolled in employment insurance reached 15.877 million in July, up 277,000, or 1.8%, from a year earlier, according to the ministry’s monthly labor market report based on employment administration statistics.
Overall enrollment growth has remained in the upper 200,000 range for seven consecutive months.
Enrollment increased by 85,000 among people in their 30s, 4,000 among those in their 40s, 37,000 among those in their 50s and 209,000 among people age 60 and older.
Enrollment among people in their 40s increased for the first time in 33 months, helped partly by increased labor force participation among women.
Workers age 29 and younger, however, recorded a decline of 57,000 from a year earlier, extending a downturn that began in September 2022.
Service industries drove overall employment growth, adding 285,000 insured workers from a year earlier.
Health and social welfare services added 112,000 workers, while accommodation and food services, business services and professional, scientific and technical services also recorded increases.
Manufacturing enrollment fell by 3,000 from a year earlier, marking its 14th consecutive monthly decline.
Employment increased in export-oriented industries including semiconductors and shipbuilding but declined in automobiles, chemicals and textiles, highlighting growing disparities within manufacturing.
Textile employment has been declining since September 2021 while fabricated metal employment has fallen for 19 consecutive months.
Automobile manufacturing employment turned negative in March and has since recorded widening declines. Chemical employment also remained weak, particularly in basic chemicals and synthetic rubber and plastics.
New job openings posted through the government’s Employment24 platform reached 177,000, up 13,000 from a year earlier, while the number of new job seekers fell by 11,000 to 399,000.
The job openings-to-applicants ratio stood at 0.44.
Some 643,000 people received unemployment benefits, with total payments reaching 1.09 trillion won ($769 million), down 21.8 billion won ($15.4 million).
“We estimate that about 60% of the decline in employment insurance enrollment among those age 29 and younger is due to population decline and about 40% to employment decline,” said Cho Won-sik, director of the Labor Ministry’s Future Employment Analysis Division.
Cho said the employment component reflects several factors, including the economic downturn, job mismatches, employers’ preference for experienced workers, adoption of AI and robots and reductions in entry-level and temporary positions.
“Considering these factors together, it appears that youth employment will have difficulty recovering quickly,” Cho said.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260810010003140
