Jobseekers in their 50s and older are increasingly looking for part-time work, a recent analysis has found. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – Jobseekers in their 50s and older are increasingly looking for part-time work, a recent analysis has found.
Through part-time job site Albamon, the margin of growth in new resumes registered with the service every January from 2014 to 2018 was highest for jobseekers 50 and above.
A total of 768 new resumes were posted on Albamon in 2014; in January 2018, 5,403 were registered.
Older job applicants were also more likely to be looking for long-term work compared to their younger counterparts. While only 13.2 percent of all new resume registered applicants this January were keen on a job lasting one year or longer, 45.0 percent of those 50 and above wanted to work long term.
Jobseekers in their 50s and older are increasingly looking for part-time work, a recent analysis has found. (Image: Yonhap)
Albamon said, “In contrast to other age demographics where people take part-time jobs as a means of generating extra income, in many cases jobseekers 50 years and above who are retired and with no steady source of income take part-time jobs to stay afloat.”
Failure to put aside savings in preparation for one’s golden years is a significant problem facing a society that is aging rapidly.
In a survey conducted by the Hyundai Research Institute in 2016 assessing the “economic happiness index” of different age groups, the 50s group scored lowest (807 adults ages 20 and above participated in the survey).
With 28.8 percent of all responses, the most commonly identified factor preventing economic happiness was selected as “insufficient (financial) preparation for older years”.
A researcher explained that survey participants who were older were more likely to answer as such, saying, “60.2 percent of respondents 60 and over, and 35.6 percent in their 50s gave this answer.”
After “childrearing and providing for children’s education”, “lack of jobs/employment” with 20.2 percent of all responses was the third most commonly identified roadblock to economic happiness.
The researcher added, “In the case of the middle-aged in their 50s, as many of them are facing retirement or have retired, their economic happiness has dropped.”
S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)
