This file photo, taken May 2, 2022, shows people heading to their offices in the financial district of Yeouido, western Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The share of employees aged 50 and over exceeded that of those under 30 at South Korea’s major companies after the outbreak of the coronavirus, primarily due to the decline in new hires, data showed Thursday.
The nation’s 72 major companies published their 2021 sustainability management reports, of which 27 disclosed the age level of their employees.
Based on the data of the 27 major companies, corporate tracker Leaders Index analyzed the changes in the age-based distribution of employees for the period from 2019 to last year.
The analysis showed that the number of employees hired by the 27 companies stood at 539,077 last year, down 4 percent from 2019.
In particular, the number of employees under 30 plunged by 23.4 percent to 126,344 last year from 164,877 in 2019.
The percentage of employees under 30 in the total workforce fell to 23.4 percent, down 6 percentage points compared to the figure marked in 2019.
In contrast, the number of employees 50 and over rose by 12.5 percent to 153,131 last year from 136,081 in 2019.
The percentage of employees aged 50 and over in the total workforce increased by 4.2 percentage points from 24.2 percent to 28.4 percent, exceeding the share of employees under 30 (23.4 percent).
Leaders Index noted that the reversal phenomenon came after major companies cut hiring after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
