Only 10% of university students are actively seeking jobs

A recent survey showed that seven out of 10 university students had given up on job seeking this year. Experts say that students are giving up on job seeking by underestimating their chance of being employed amid an increasingly competitive job seeking environment. 　

According to the Korea Economic Research Institute under the Federation of Korean Industries, a survey conducted of 2,713 third- and fourth-year university students and graduates showed that 65.3% had given up on job hunting. The institute classified those who replied as “nearly none (33.7%),” “occasionally (23.2%)” and “not seeking (8.4%)” to questions asking if they are seeking jobs. The ratio of those that replied as “actively seeking” was only 9.6%, which is about one in 10 persons. 　

The majority, or 64.9% of the surveyed chose to further prepare and boost capability, expertise and knowledge when asked about why they did not choose active job seeking. Also 58.6% of respondents said that they predicted that hiring for university graduates this year would be tougher than last year. 29.3% of the students said that “intensified competition due to lower hiring opportunities” was the main obstacle of job-seeking amidst the pandemic situation. 　

“The younger generation are losing confidence as the job-seeking competition grows more intense,” said Chu Gwang-ho, director of the Economic Policy Department at KERI. “We need fundamental solutions for de-regulation and boosting hiring flexibility.”


Hyun-Seok Lim lhs@donga.com