S. Korea's job crisis amid COVID-19 taking harder hit on young people
- 3 years ago
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South Korea is facing a severe job crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nation's employment market is now showing seven consecutive months of on-year decline.
Adding to the woes, data shows South Korea's young people bearing the brunt of the hardships.
Eum Ji-young reports.
The COVID-19 outbreak is wreaking havoc on South Korea's job market and it is taking an especially big hit on employment among young people.
According to the latest job data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, young people between 15 and 39 saw the largest on-year decline in April and September due to the surge in COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic.
In April, that age range had roughly 420-thousand fewer jobs than the year earlier, while the corresponding number in September was more than half-a-million.
All age brackets except for people over 60 saw a drop in April and September.
An official at Statistics Korea said young people were hit hardest as the majority of them work in the service sector, which requires face-to-face interaction.
The biggest job losses in September were in the restaurant and lodging sectors, which recorded a 10 percent fall or 225-thousand fewer jobs last month than a year earlier.
The wholesale and retail industry and the education industry saw 207-thousand and 151-thousand job losses respectively.
About 62 percent of the on-year decline in the restaurants and lodging sectors were those between 15 and 39.
People in that bracket accounted for about 85 percent and 23 percent of the on-year decline in the education and wholesale and retail industry respectively.
The number of jobs in the restaurant, lodging and wholesale industry also hit a seven-and-a-half year low.
It showed 9 straight months of on-year drops as the self-employed in those sectors were also hit hard as a result of the stricter social distancing measures.
Eum Ji-young Arirang News.
South Korea is facing a severe job crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nation's employment market is now showing seven consecutive months of on-year decline.
Adding to the woes, data shows South Korea's young people bearing the brunt of the hardships.
Eum Ji-young reports.
The COVID-19 outbreak is wreaking havoc on South Korea's job market and it is taking an especially big hit on employment among young people.
According to the latest job data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, young people between 15 and 39 saw the largest on-year decline in April and September due to the surge in COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic.
In April, that age range had roughly 420-thousand fewer jobs than the year earlier, while the corresponding number in September was more than half-a-million.
All age brackets except for people over 60 saw a drop in April and September.
An official at Statistics Korea said young people were hit hardest as the majority of them work in the service sector, which requires face-to-face interaction.
The biggest job losses in September were in the restaurant and lodging sectors, which recorded a 10 percent fall or 225-thousand fewer jobs last month than a year earlier.
The wholesale and retail industry and the education industry saw 207-thousand and 151-thousand job losses respectively.
About 62 percent of the on-year decline in the restaurants and lodging sectors were those between 15 and 39.
People in that bracket accounted for about 85 percent and 23 percent of the on-year decline in the education and wholesale and retail industry respectively.
The number of jobs in the restaurant, lodging and wholesale industry also hit a seven-and-a-half year low.
It showed 9 straight months of on-year drops as the self-employed in those sectors were also hit hard as a result of the stricter social distancing measures.
Eum Ji-young Arirang News.