A group of people join a job fair in Seoul on March 23, 2018, to learn what is necessary to be successful in finding stable jobs in Japan. (image: Korea International Trade Association)
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of South Korean job seekers want career experiences overseas, a recent study revealed.
Saramin, an online job search platform, conducted a survey of 3,545 adults, 55 percent of whom said they wanted to work overseas.
More male respondents (60.5 percent) wanted to work overseas than women (50.3 percent).
Most respondents wanted to work overseas to gain global experience. Others pointed to a better working environment (42.3 percent) as well as higher wages and better treatment (32.9 percent) as incentives to work abroad.
Most respondents wanted to work in the United States (53.8 percent), followed by Canada (38.9 percent), Australia (34.3 percent), and Singapore (23.8 percent).
Japan, which originally ranked as the second most popular destination for work among South Koreans last year (35.3 percent), plunged to eighth place (20.1 percent) this year following Japan’s export restrictions against South Korea and the boycott movement that ensued.
Among respondents who had no intention to work in Japan, 55.1 percent said that the boycott movement affected their preference towards Japan.
Respondents said that making 47 million won (US$40,000) per year was ideal when working overseas, which was 18 million won higher than the annual wage proposed by domestic job seekers in another study.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
