The file photo, shows a job seeker looking at recruitment notices at an employment center in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Many young job seekers in South Korea are making a variety of attempts to recover from the depression caused by the spread of the coronavirus.
A 27-year-old job seeker who submitted applications to more than 10 companies but failed to get a job recently applied to the court to change his name.
This was because his father advised him to visit a fortune teller who told him that his name was hardly recognizable by any company.
“I usually don’t pay any attention to what fortune tellers say but after continued failure in getting jobs and suffering from depression, I couldn’t help but pay attention to what he said,” the job seeker said.
“I will get myself ready with a new state of mind after changing my name.”
With the job crisis dragging on for more than a year in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, a substantial number of young job seekers are working on various attempts to deal with their depression.
Kang Da-chan, a 24-years-old job seeker, works up a sweat at a Muay Thai gym every night.
“I became indulged in TV and computer use due to a delayed recruitment process which stirred up nothing but negative feelings. To get rid of such negative feelings, I started learning Muay Thai,” he said.
The Economic, Social and Labor Council, a presidential panel, conducted a survey with 596 young adult job seekers under 29 years of age and 447 students from vocational high schools.
The panel used the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) to calculate the degree of depression caused by COVID-19.
The average score of the respondents stood at 23.2, while that for respondents that had spent more than one year searching for a job stood at 25.9.
Figures above 21 represent moderate depression, while numbers above 25 refer to severe depression requiring consultations with professionals.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
