Korea Federation of SMEs 'Prejudice Against SME Jobs and Youth Suicide Prevention' Issue Report
Long-term Unemployment and Extreme Choices Are Correlated... "Unemployment Crisis Must Be Solved by Raising Awareness of SMEs"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] A survey revealed that 3 out of 10 young people who made an extreme choice were unemployed. This highlights the importance of efforts to eliminate prejudice against small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) jobs and expand employment as a measure to prevent youth suicide.
The Korea Federation of SMEs, together with the Korea Suicide Prevention Association, released a report titled "Prejudice Against SME Jobs and Youth Suicide Prevention" on the 2nd.
According to the report, among 173 young people (in their 20s and 30s) who made an extreme choice between 2016 and 2019, 32.9% (57 people) were unemployed. Among 57 people who experienced workplace stress incidents (multiple responses allowed), more than half, 57.4% (27 people), cited unemployment including resignation or dismissal as the cause. Of these, 13 were confirmed to have been in long-term unemployment for more than one year.
The report added, "If long-term unemployment continues for 6 months to over a year, it can cause severe stress linked to extreme choices. Additionally, a study showed that the correlation between employment instability and youth suicide rates in South Korea is stronger than in other OECD countries."
Graph of National Favorability Survey on Jobs in Small and Medium Enterprises. Photo by Korea Federation of SMEs
There was also a point made that improving perceptions of SME jobs is necessary to solve the youth unemployment problem. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Federation of SMEs in July targeting 1,000 people aged 20 and over, the overall perception score of SME jobs was 52.6 out of 100, which is only 69.7% of the large corporations' score of 75.5. This means SMEs are not meeting the job-seeking demands of young people.
Furthermore, the report pointed out, "The lives of our youth have become even more difficult amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Prolonged unemployment deepens economic poverty, worsens mental health, and causes social isolation among youth, making them vulnerable to suicide."
Additionally, the report emphasized, "The societal perception favoring large corporations and public enterprises imprinted on youth causes a mismatch between desired jobs and actual employment. Eliminating prejudice against SME jobs is crucial in preventing youth suicide."
Ki Sunwan, president of the Korea Suicide Prevention Association, said, “By improving perceptions of SME jobs and creating jobs that young people want, we can alleviate unemployment, a major cause of extreme choices.”
Hong Jonghee, director of the Youth Hope Job Bureau at the Korea Federation of SMEs, stated, “Starting next year, we plan to operate an information delivery system that allows young job seekers to easily check the distribution of excellent SMEs and recruitment status by region.”
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