Only Four out of 1,000 Retirees Reached Retirement Age

It is reported that last year, 3.4 million insurers for employer-sponsored health insurance withdrew, recording the highest number as they left their workplace, some out of their own will and others by some external force.

Out of those workers, a few of them (only four out of 1,000 or 0.4 percent) left their workplace after reaching their retirement age, following the retirement age rules.

According to “The 2002 Employer Insurance White Paper” made by the Ministry of Labor published on November 2, the number of employees who lost their eligibility for employer insurance last year reached its highest number ever (3,404,660) since the introduction of the insurance in 1995.

As the employer insurance is principally enacted in all businesses, losing insurance eligibility means that employees are leaving their work places. The insurers who withdrew their insurance increased year-by-year from 2,981,588 in 2000, to 3,234,745 in 2001, and to the present value.

Last year, one out of four paid workers (approximately 14 million) left their workplace. The biggest reason was listed as personal, which accounted for 1.36 million (40 percent), followed by transferring, such as having an own private business, with 1.07 million (32 percent).

There were many workers who left their jobs due to some external forces such as personnel restructuring caused by the economic recession.

It was reported that 336,488 workers (9.9 percent) left their workplaces owing to the company’s business conditions and 169,916 (5.0 percent) left due to reasons including closing, bankruptcy, and suspension of on-the-spot construction. Retirement caused by managerial conditions and disciplinary dismissals were 28,858 and 11,195 respectively.

Researcher Jang Ji-yeon of the Korea Labor Institute commented, “Many workers who quit because of personal reasons can’t be genuinely categorized as retired employees out of initiatives but they are equal to honorary ones,” and added, “The early dismissal of paid workers is at a serious level.”

The researcher reported in the publication called “The Labor Market for Aged Group” that the age for having more retired employees rather than more additional workforce in the Korean labor market is much earlier than other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is in its mid 30s; this is 10 years earlier than the OECD’s average counterpart.

Kyung-Joon Chung news91@donga.com