"Just Playing"... Over 4 Million Highly Educated Unemployed Who Gave Up Job Hunting

Led by people in their 20s... Highly Educated Population Continues to Increase
Experts Say "Lack of Quality Jobs for Highly Educated Individuals"

The population of non-economically active individuals (non-econ active) who neither work nor seek employment after graduating from college exceeded 4 million in the first half of this year. This is a record high.

The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Getty Images Bank]

According to the National Statistical Portal of Statistics Korea on the 21st, the average monthly number of non-econ active people with a college degree or higher (including junior colleges) in the first half of this year (January to June) reached 4,058,000. This is an increase of 72,000 compared to the same period last year, marking the highest number recorded for the first half of the year since related statistics began to be compiled in 1999.

The non-econ active population refers to people aged 15 and over who are neither employed nor unemployed. In other words, these are individuals who are either unable or unwilling to work and therefore do not engage in job-seeking activities.

The reasons for not working vary. While childcare, household duties, old age, and physical or mental disabilities are factors, those who have given up job seeking because they could not find suitable employment, as well as those who responded "just resting" in employment surveys, are also included in the non-econ active category.

Job seekers visiting the job fair [Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, it has been confirmed that the non-econ active population is increasing mainly among highly educated individuals. In the first half of this year, the proportion of college graduates among the total non-econ active population exceeded 25% for the first time, reaching 25.1%.

The total non-econ active population has been decreasing for three consecutive years since 2022 based on the first half of the year. However, the non-econ active population with a college degree or higher first surpassed 4 million in the first half of 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic (4,048,000), then sharply decreased the following year (-136,000), and has been increasing again for two consecutive years.

Looking at the non-econ active population with a college degree by age group, those in their 20s are the largest group. According to microdata on the economically active population from Statistics Korea, the average monthly number of non-econ active young adults (aged 15?29) with a college degree or higher in the first half of this year increased by 7,000 from the same period last year to 591,000.

Statistics Korea analyzed that the increase in highly educated non-econ active individuals is centered on those in their late 20s, and particularly, a large proportion are "short-term non-econ active" who have had experience working or job seeking within the past year.

Experts or skilled highly educated individuals often become so-called "unemployed" who remain in the job market rather than falling into non-econ active status even if they lose their jobs. On the other hand, the non-econ active population mainly worked in industries such as retail and business facility management, and by occupation and employment status, many were office workers, simple laborers, or temporary workers.

This suggests that highly educated individuals who were in relatively lower-quality jobs may have given up job seeking or are not seeking employment in order to pursue retraining or other reasons.

Experts pointed out, "The increasing trend of non-economically active population centered on highly educated individuals ultimately means that there is a more severe job mismatch for the highly educated compared to the less educated, and a lack of quality jobs for them."