High Employment Rates for Top Four Engineer and Technician Certifications
Employment Rates for Leading Categories Remain in the 60% Range
Youth aged between 19 and 34 primarily obtained certifications such as computer proficiency, forklift operator, and industrial safety engineer. Certifications with a high employment rate for unemployed youth after acquisition included mechanical maintenance industrial engineer, electrical industrial engineer, and industrial hygiene management engineer, all exceeding a 60% employment rate.
On the 19th, job seekers participating in the '2025 Korea Job Fair' held at aT Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, are looking at the recruitment bulletin board.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea announced on the 20th an analysis of the employment status of national technical qualification holders as of the end of July last year, based on health and employment insurance enrollment. This is the first time related analysis results have been released to provide job seekers with information based on employment rates by age and gender of national technical qualification holders.
As of 2023, there are 740,000 national technical qualification holders. Among them, 445,000 (60.1%) were unemployed, and about half (47.5%) of these found employment within one year after obtaining their certification. Among certifications with over 10,000 employed holders, the relatively difficult engineer-level certifications had the highest employment rate at 58.9%, followed by industrial engineer (56.2%), service (47.3%), and technician (44.1%) levels.
There was a difference between the most frequently obtained certifications and those with high employment rates. The most commonly obtained national technical qualifications were ▲Computer Proficiency Level 2 (65,290 people) ▲Forklift Operator (63,278 people) ▲Computer Proficiency Level 1 (29,873 people) ▲Industrial Safety Engineer (28,636 people) ▲Excavator Operator (24,836 people).
Among certifications with over 1,000 unemployed holders, those with high employment rates included ▲Electrical Industrial Engineer (73.9%) ▲Forestry Technician (71.9%) ▲Industrial Hygiene Management Engineer (71.5%). Among certifications with fewer than 1,000 but more than 200 holders, ▲Energy Management Industrial Engineer (79.4%) ▲Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industrial Engineer (76.9%) had high employment rates. For certifications with fewer than 200 holders, ▲Elevator Engineer (82.1%) ▲Production Automation Industrial Engineer (81.1%) were notable.
Focusing only on the youth group, the most obtained certifications were ▲Computer Proficiency Level 2 (50,512 people) ▲Computer Proficiency Level 1 (28,682 people) ▲Forklift Operator (25,328 people) ▲Industrial Safety Engineer (15,175 people) ▲Information Processing Engineer (11,377 people) ▲Word Processor (11,046 people).
Conversely, among certifications with over 1,000 holders, those with high employment rates were ▲Mechanical Maintenance Industrial Engineer (67.5%) ▲Electrical Industrial Engineer (64.3%) ▲Industrial Hygiene Management Engineer (61.2%) ▲Electrical Technician (60.0%) ▲Web Design Technician (59.0%) ▲Industrial Safety Industrial Engineer (57.3%).
For the elderly aged 55 and above, many obtained certifications included ▲Forklift Operator (9,431 people) ▲Excavator Operator (5,321 people) ▲Electrical Technician (4,824 people). Employment rates were highest for ▲Electrical Technician (58.1%) ▲Korean Cuisine Cooking Technician (54.3%) ▲Landscaping Technician (50.3%).
By gender, certifications with high employment rates among male holders were ▲Mechanical Maintenance Industrial Engineer (67.0%) ▲Electrical Industrial Engineer (66.9%) ▲Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technician (57.9%). For females, ▲Web Design Technician (57.8%) ▲Computer Proficiency Level 2 (53.3%) ▲Job Counselor Level 2 (51.5%) had high employment rates.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor evaluated that since preferred certifications and top employment rate certifications differ by group based on age and gender analysis results, employment strategies tailored to individual characteristics are necessary.
Im Young-mi, Director of the Vocational Competency Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stated, "These analysis results will help job seekers who obtain national technical qualifications for employment purposes select advantageous certifications and enhance their competitiveness. We will continue to analyze national technical qualification data from various angles to contribute to vocational skill development and national competitiveness advancement."
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