55% of Job Seekers Say "Getting a Job Will Be Harder Than Last Year"

Catch and Saramin Job Seeker Survey
"Will Prepare for Employment Even During Lunar New Year Holiday"

More than half of job seekers worried that finding a job this year would be more difficult than last year. The reasons cited were economic recession and reduced investment.

Citizens are hurrying on their way to work at the Gwanghwamun Intersection in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

According to a survey conducted on the 25th by the recruitment platform Catch targeting 2,070 Gen Z job seekers about the '2025 Employment Outlook,' 55% of respondents said that finding a job this year would be more difficult than last year. The percentage of those who responded that it would be 'similar to last year' was 27%, while only 18% said it would 'improve.'

The most frequently cited reason for expecting more difficulty in finding a job was 'economic recession and reduced investment' (59%). This was followed by 'reduced corporate hiring' (21%) and 'domestic political instability' (17%) as major causes. Additionally, some respondents mentioned 'job reduction due to technological advancement' (3%).

Conversely, among those who believed the situation would improve, the most selected reason was 'economic recovery and increased investment' (67%). Next were 'expanded corporate hiring' (17%) and 'job growth due to new technology development' (9%). Other opinions included 'strengthened government employment support' (6%).

The top employment trend expected to gain the most attention in the new year was 'job preparation using AI' (45%). This was followed by 'creating practical portfolios' (24%), 'self-promotion through SNS' (18%), and 'stepwise career development' (13%).

As the job market is expected to be difficult, the emotions felt by job seekers during the job preparation process were also negative. The most commonly felt emotion was 'anxiety' (30%), followed by 'helplessness' (22%). Other emotions included 'sense of achievement' (16%), 'expectation' (13%), 'frustration' (10%), 'confidence' (6%), and 'anger' (2%).

6 out of 10 Job Seekers "Will Prepare for Employment During Lunar New Year Holiday"

Job seekers answered that they would devote themselves to job preparation even during the historically long Lunar New Year holiday. According to a survey by Saramin targeting 1,477 job seekers about their 'Lunar New Year holiday job preparation plans,' 59.4% said they would 'prepare for employment.' By job-seeking type, new job seekers (62.9%) slightly outnumbered experienced job seekers (57.8%) in preparing for employment.

The main reason for preparing for employment during the holiday was 'because job postings for target companies can appear anytime due to rolling recruitment' (46.8%, multiple responses), followed by 'because there are few postings and it is difficult to get a job (or change jobs)' (38%). The average planned duration for job preparation during the 6-day holiday is 4.1 days.

Among respondents (599 people) who said they would not engage in job-seeking activities during the holiday, the most selected reason was 'wanting to rest during the holiday and relieve job-seeking stress' (38.2%).