Workers aged 60 and older accounted for nearly three-quarters of the increase in regular employment in the third quarter, while jobs for people in their 20s and 30s fell.
Job seekers look at job postings during a job fair in Guro Ward in Seoul on Nov. 5.
YONHAP
Workers aged 60 and older drove more than 70 percent of the increase in Korea’s regular employees in the third quarter, while workers in their 20s and 30s declined, the Ministry of Data and Statistics said Sunday.
Regular workers totaled 16.84 million in the July-September period, up 167,628 from a year earlier, according to the Data Ministry.
While those in their 60s and older made up less than 14 percent of all regular employees, the number of workers in this age group rose by 125,573 from a year earlier.
This accounted for 74.9 percent of the total on-year increase, reflecting the country’s aging population.
Meanwhile, regular employment among younger workers continued to decline.
The number of regular employees in their 20s fell by 82,836 in the third quarter from a year earlier, marking the 15th consecutive quarter of decline since the first quarter of 2023.
The figure for those in their 30s also fell by 3,711 from last year, despite an 81,433 increase in population.
An August survey by the ministry found that about 680,000 people in their 20s and 30s were unemployed and “resting.”
Yonhap