00:06Korea added 292,000 wage jobs in the first quarter, but 80% went to workers over 60.
00:15Jobs for people in their 20s actually fell by 76,000, with manufacturing hit hardest.
00:22SK Telecom just opened a 15-week AI training program with Seoul National University for graduate students.
00:31And 680,000 young Koreans in their 20s and 30s spent this year simply not working or studying.
00:39That's the backdrop for anyone weighing their next move in Korea's job market.
00:44It's Tuesday, August 25th.
00:47Let's look at what this means for job seekers and graduates in Korea.
00:52Korea's National Data Agency tracks wage jobs quarterly, and this cycle showed overall growth driven almost entirely by older workers
01:01moving into healthcare and welfare roles.
01:04Youth employment has now fallen for 27 straight months compared with the same month a year earlier, according to separate
01:12labor statistics.
01:13At the same time, corporate Korea is investing directly in AI talent pipelines through university partnerships, signaling where hiring demand
01:23may shift next.
01:25Here's what the numbers show.
01:28Korea added 292,000 wage jobs in the first quarter, up 1.4% year-on-year, with workers 60
01:38and older accounting for 79.8% of that gain.
01:42Jobs held by people in their 20s and under fell by 76,000, led by a 26,000-job drop
01:51in manufacturing alone.
01:53The healthcare and welfare sector added 127,000 jobs, the single largest gain of any industry, while construction lost 52
02:04,000.
02:05SK Telecom's new AI program with Seoul National University runs for 15 weeks, starting September 1st, covering AI applications, modeling,
02:17and infrastructure.
02:19Roughly 680,000 people in their 20s and 30s reported being neither working nor studying each month this year.
02:27And 48.6% of new graduates remain jobless a year after graduation as of May.
02:34So what does this mean for job seekers and graduates in Korea?
02:39Earlier, we said jobs for people in their 20s fell by 76,000 this quarter.
02:45Here's what that actually means for you.
02:49Manufacturing and public sector entry points are shrinking, while healthcare, food service, and AI-adjacent roles are where the growth
02:58actually is.
02:59Programs like SK Telecom's AI partnership with Seoul National University signal where large employers are building their next hiring pipeline,
03:09making AI-adjacent credentials increasingly relevant even outside engineering majors.
03:15If you've been out of the job market for a while, you're not alone, with 680,000 peers in the
03:22same position.
03:24But the data suggests the fastest path back in runs through healthcare, hospitality, or AI training tracks, rather than traditional
03:33manufacturing or public administration.
03:36That's today's AI-prism, students and grads.
03:40This episode was produced with AI assistance based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting and reviewed by a human editor.
03:48AI-prism is a Juan Ifra award-winning series.
03:52We'll be back tomorrow.
03:53You've been listening to AI-prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
04:00file using AI-S
04:00As always.
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