The employment rate for South Koreans aged 20 to 29 has reached a record high, but the surge is driven by a rise in contingent work or temporary employment, according to new data. Contingent workers refer to people in an employment relationship with limited job security, including part-time workers, independent contractors, and freelancers.
According to Statistics Korea, the employment rate for those in their 20s stood at 61.7% in August, the highest level recorded for August since the country began tracking employment data in 1999. This represents a 3.5 percentage point increase over the past decade, rising from 58.2% in 2014.
But the apparent employment boom is largely due to the rise in contingent workers. Among the 3.389 million employed 20-somethings, 1.461 million, or 43.1%, were classified as non-regular workers with limited job stability. This is the highest figure since Statistics Korea began tracking this category in 2003.
Over the past decade, the number of 20-somethings in full-time permanent employment has dropped by nearly 350,000 as companies gradually reduced cut entry-level openings, favoring hiring experienced or temporary workers.
Face with fewer opportunities, more young Koreans have taken up part-time work to cover living expenses while continuing their job search for permanent positions. As of this year, the number of contingent workers in their 20s has risen by nearly 400,000 over the past decade to 1.461 million.
This trend also extends to teenagers, where contingent work is at an all-time high. Among the 159,000 wage-earning teens aged 15-19, around 89.9% (143,000) hold part-time or irregular jobs, a figure that has risen by 20 percentage points in the past decade.
By age group, teens had the highest proportion of non-regular workers, followed by those 60 and older (69.7%), people in their 20s and 50s (33.7%), 40s (26.7%), and 30s (22.7%).
