Given the difficult employment environment, 54.7 percent (multiple response) said they lowered their standards when choosing a company to apply to. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – It seems as though finding a job in Korea is getting tougher by the year.
In a recent survey of 2,653 job applicants by Saramin, an online recruitment platform, 79.3 percent of the respondents said the job search process was more difficult during the second half of this year. Of the respondents, 20.4 percent said it was similar to an average year, and only 0.3 percent said the conditions were improved.
As to why applicants thought the process was more strenuous, 41.5 percent (multiple response) said it was because they were more frequently rejected.
The response was followed by “poor economic circumstances” (40.3 percent), “lack of high quality jobs available” (39 percent), “higher level of competition among applicants” (36.6 percent), “fewer companies hiring” (34.3 percent), “job applicants became more competent” (27.9 percent), and “companies hiring less employees” (27.3 percent).
Given the difficult employment environment, 54.7 percent (multiple response) said they lowered their standards when choosing a company to apply to.
Other methods of coping with the tough job market included “applying to a greater number of companies” (49.7 percent), “indiscriminate application” (29.6 percent), “focus on improving one’s qualifications (i.e. certificates)” (19.3 percent), “looking for jobs overseas” (11.7 percent), and “building work experience (internship or other)” (6.7 percent).
Meanwhile, 40 percent of the respondents said that the companies they wanted to apply to didn’t hire new employees in the second half, while 94.1 percent said they felt anxious because of the prolonged poor employment conditions in the country.
The unemployment rate for those aged between 14 and 30 in November was 8.2 percent, which was the highest figure for the month since November 2003.
By Joseph Shin (jss539@koreabizwire.com)
