This file photo, taken Jan. 13, 2021, shows people looking at job opening information at an employment arrangement center in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — 7 out of 10 South Korean young adults feel it will become more difficult to get a job at the company of their choice in the future, a local think tank said Sunday.
The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) conducted a survey of 542 young adults between the ages of 18 and 29. At 62.9 percent, almost two thirds of the respondents said that the job market for youth would deteriorate in the future.
Close to 70 percent of the respondents said that chances would be low for youth to get a job at the company of their choice.
In response to a question asking about the minimum annual salary for a good job if other conditions were satisfactory, 40.2 percent picked between 30-40 million won (US$25,550-34,060) as a minimum annual salary.
As for the main factor that discourages work motivation among youth, 24.7 percent picked the skyrocketing housing prices, followed by hike in consumer prices (21.5 percent) and tax burden (20.4 percent).
Roughly one quarter of the young adults said that the people with total assets of 1-2 billion won can be regarded as rich, followed by 2-5 billion won (22.9 percent) and 10-100 billion won (20.6 percent).
Another 70.4 percent of the young adults said that they have a negative view on the idea that those who work hard will become rich.
“There are concerns that the youth’s negative recognition about jobs could lead to a sharp increase in the number of individuals who become discouraged and stop looking for employment,” said Choo Kwang-ho, head of KERI’s economic policy division at KERI.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
