Getting First Job Becomes Harder... 40% of Large Companies Say "Will Hire Experienced Workers"

Announcement of 'Major Company Hiring Trends Survey' by Employment Information Service on the 16th
Hiring mainly based on experience and expansion of rolling recruitment over open recruitment
Reason for expanding rolling recruitment: 'Quick response to changes in the business environment'

A scene of a video interview being conducted at the Seongnam Job Center. (Photo by Seongnam City)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It has been revealed that 4 out of 10 planned hires for the second quarter of this year at major domestic conglomerates are experienced professionals.

According to the 'Major Companies Hiring Trend Survey' released on the 16th by the Korea Employment Information Service, among the top 500 companies by sales, 137 companies that set hiring plans for the second quarter of this year showed that the proportion of new hires was 62.4%, while experienced hires accounted for 37.6%.

The job categories with a high proportion of new hires (multiple responses allowed) were sales and marketing (78.2%), production and technology (62.9%), others (62.6%), and management support (52.9%). The proportion of experienced hires was high in IT (71.4%) and research and development (60.2%) job categories.

The hiring methods for new employees were 62.7% open recruitment and 37.3% occasional recruitment. This means that 4 out of 10 new hires are recruited through occasional hiring. For experienced hires, occasional recruitment accounted for 80.3%, while open recruitment was only 19.7%.

Open recruitment is a hiring method where companies recruit a large number of personnel through written exams and other processes, provide job training, and then assign them to work. Occasional recruitment is a method of hiring small numbers of personnel whenever there is a demand. Recently, companies have been expanding experienced and occasional recruitment, indicating a preference for personnel who can be immediately deployed to work upon hiring.

As occasional recruitment spreads, young job seekers must go beyond simply building 'specs' and gather diverse hiring information, as well as accumulate job skills and experience, making job preparation more challenging.

Among the surveyed companies, those planning to expand occasional recruitment this year cited 'timely hiring of necessary personnel to quickly respond to changes in the business environment' (62.6%) as the most common reason.

This was followed by 'immediate response to job changes and retirements to improve personnel management efficiency' (20.6%) and 'hiring personnel suitable for the job' (16.8%).

The Major Companies Hiring Trend Survey by the Employment Information Service was conducted in April and May as a follow-up measure to the government's youth employment activation plan announced last March. Starting with this survey, the Employment Information Service plans to monitor changes in corporate hiring trends and provide useful information to young job seekers.

Lee Yohang, a research fellow at the Employment Information Service, said, "Looking at recent corporate hiring trends, young job seekers need to prepare in advance by obtaining certifications and gaining work experience that match their desired industries and job roles."