(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – An increasing number of 50- and 60-somethings in Korea are getting national qualifications for technical skills, as they seek out their second life.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) on Aug. 29, 63,929 out of 677,686 technical qualification certificates were issued to test takers in their 50s and older in 2017, accounting for 9.4 percent of the total.
This represents a 27.2 percent increase from the 50,256 recorded in 2016, and marks an impressive 56.6 percent increase since 2013.
“It looks like more people are trying to prepare for their post-retirement life,” said the MOEL.
Fork Lift Operator was the most popular choice for men, who acquired 7,420 certificates, followed by Excavating Machine Operator (4,778), Architectural Painting Craftsman (2,381), Electricity Craftsman (2,253) and Landscape Architecture Craftsman (1,959).
Korean Food Cook Craftsman was the most favored among women, with 6,351 certifications. This was followed by Western Food Cook (952), Laundry Craftsman (925), Architectural Painting Craftsman (805) and Chinese Food Cook (685).
“These people tend to prefer certificates that can be used as a license in their respective fields,” said the MOEL, “The ones that would help them start working right away.”
Those in their 20s had somewhat different interests. Fork Lift Operator was also popular for men in their 20s (10,517), but they acquired other certificates such as Electrical Technician (5,880), Information Processing Technician (5,414) and Information Processing Technician (4,436).
Technician is one step above Craftsman in the qualification system operated by the government.
The gap was even greater for the women in their 20s: Nail Technician (4,914), Esthetician (3,552), Make-up Artist (2,558) and Computer Graphics Operation Craftsman (2,378).
A total of 3.42 million individuals took national tests to earn technical qualifications in 2017, up 1.2 percent from the previous year, and 677,686 of them passed.
By Joey Yoo (joeyyoo@koreabizwire.com)
