The number of young Koreans neither working nor seeking employment has risen sharply across generations, while the time required to land a first job has grown longer, according to a new report.
The Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) released the report, titled "Improvement Tasks for Youth Job Creation," on Thursday. With the youth employment rate declining for 23 consecutive months from May 2024 through March this year, the report calls for resolving labor market mismatches and reexamining the government's plan to mandate a retirement age of 60.
The number of "resting" individuals aged 25-29 stood at 84,000 in 2004 (those born between 1975 and 1979). By 2024, that figure had climbed to 217,000 for the same age group (those born between 1995 and 1999), a 2.6-fold increase.
The number of "resting" youth aged 15-29 has risen for three consecutive years since 2023, with the increase driven by highly educated individuals holding college degrees or higher.
Resting youth with at least a college degree numbered 153,000 in 2023, rising to 174,000 in 2024 and 179,000 in 2025. Those with a high school education or less remained largely unchanged, at 247,000 in both 2023 and 2024 and 250,000 in 2025.
The share of young workers among employees with less than one year of tenure — considered a proxy for new hires — fell from 33.6% in 2006 to 25.2% in 2025, a drop of 8.4 percentage points over two decades.
The average time between graduation and first employment for young Koreans rose from 10.1 months in 2021 to 11.3 months in 2025, an increase of 1.2 months over four years.
Those born between 1995 and 1999 took 12.77 months to secure their first job after graduation (as of 2024), 2.06 months longer than the 10.71 months recorded for those born between 1975 and 1979 (as of 2004). Those born between 1980 and 1984 took 10.70 months (as of 2009), while those born between 1985 and 1989 (as of 2014) and between 1990 and 1994 (as of 2019) both took 12.05 months.
The KEF identified labor supply-demand mismatches, the mandatory retirement age of 60, and entrenched low growth as the main causes of weak youth employment.
The federation noted that widening wage gaps based on company size and employment type have intensified the concentration of highly educated young people seeking jobs at large corporations, while small and medium-sized enterprises continue to suffer chronic labor shortages. Last year, the hourly wage for young full-time workers at large corporations was 20,125 won, 43% higher than the 14,066 won earned by young workers at smaller firms or in non-regular positions.
The KEF cited numerous studies showing that since the retirement age of 60 was legislated in 2013, employment of older workers among regular full-time staff at large corporations has risen markedly, while youth employment growth has lagged. Using 2013 as a baseline of 100, the number of older regular workers at large corporations had risen to 245.9 by 2025, while the figure for young workers stood at just 135.5.
"The youth employment crisis continues, with more than 700,000 resting youth in their 20s and 30s last year," said Choi Moon-seok, head of KEF's Youth ESG Team. "Extraordinary measures are needed to draw resting youth back into the labor market and provide opportunities for young people who want to work." Choi added, "Policy capabilities should be concentrated on enhancing employment flexibility to resolve job mismatches and strengthening employment support services for unemployed youth. Discussions on extending the statutory retirement age, which negatively affects new hiring, should be approached with caution."
