middle-aged workers Archives

In South Korea, the ‘Young Forty’ Label Stirs Backlash Among Middle-Aged Workers

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — When Park Seung-woo turned 40 this year, colleagues wasted no time calling him “Young Forty,” a term meant to capture middle-aged Koreans trying to look youthful. Far from a compliment, he says the label now feels like a taunt. “They call me ‘Young Forty’ at every turn, to the [...]

Middle-aged Workers Feel Pinch of Economic Downturn

SEJONG, Jan. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans have long joked that the nation’s unofficial retirement age is 45. Since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis forced South Korea to receive an emergency bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund in return for a painful restructuring of its banks and corporate sectors, middle-aged workers here have [...]