81% of Young People Say "Extending Retirement Age Will Reduce New Hiring"

Key Factor in Choosing a Workplace: "Salary Level" at 66.6%

A Strategy Needed: Strengthening Employment Infrastructure and Corporate Incentives

Eight out of ten young people are concerned that if the statutory retirement age is extended, companies will reduce new hiring.

The Korea Employers Federation announced on the 29th the results of a youth employment trend survey conducted among 1,052 young people aged 20 to 34 who are either job-seeking or currently employed. According to the survey, 62.9% of respondents said that the current youth job market is "generally difficult."

On the 16th, young job seekers were attending on-site interviews at the 'Youth-Enterprise Matching Day (FREE Youth Street)' held at Seoul City Hall. Photo by Hyunmin Kim, September 16, 2026.

When asked for the reasons why they felt the job market was difficult, 49.5% (multiple answers allowed) pointed to the “acceleration of hiring focused on experienced workers.” Additionally, 49.2% cited a “reduction in hiring compared to the previous year,” while 49.1% mentioned a “decrease in demand for manpower due to the use of artificial intelligence (AI).”

When asked what impact they expect the extension of the retirement age would have on new hires, 81.0% of respondents answered that it would lead to a “reduction in the scale of new hiring.”

This figure represents an increase of 10.2 percentage points compared to last year's survey, suggesting that concerns among young people about diminished employment opportunities have intensified as discussions on extending the retirement age have grown more active.

When asked about the area in which they have placed the most focus while preparing for employment, 47.4% responded “participation in internship or work experience programs”—the most common answer.

In terms of criteria for choosing a company for employment, 66.6% cited “salary level,” followed by “job security” at 46.0%, and “job suitability or relevance to their major” at 34.7%.

As for the main difficulties experienced during the job search process, 50.9% pointed to a “lack of quality jobs,” while 49.0% cited a “lack of work experience or career background.”

Notably, among young people living in the Seoul metropolitan area, the “lack of quality jobs” (53.3%) outweighed the “lack of work experience or career background” (46.2%). In contrast, for those living outside the metropolitan area, the “lack of work experience or career background” (53.6%) was 6.7 percentage points higher than the “lack of quality jobs” (46.9%).

In terms of tasks that should be prioritized to expand youth employment, “strengthening employment infrastructure” was cited by 49.6% of respondents, while “enhancing support for companies that hire young people” was mentioned by 49.2%.

Ryu Ki-jung, Executive Vice President of the Korea Employers Federation, said, “A two-track strategy is needed: strengthening employment infrastructure to enhance job seekers’ capabilities, thereby reducing mismatches, and increasing incentives for companies that voluntarily provide youth employment support programs. Given the significant concern that extending the statutory retirement age will reduce youth hiring, a prudent approach to advancing retirement age extension is necessary.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.