It has been found that the average tenure of South Korean young wage workers who left their first job does not even reach one year and seven months. Despite overcoming the tough threshold of hiring, more young people are leaving their first workplace without settling in, making the trend of “early resignation” increasingly pronounced. In particular, the employment type of the first job functions as a key variable that determines future employment stability, prompting calls for a fundamental review of youth job policies.

According to the report released on the 30th by the National Assembly Budget Office titled “Status of First Jobs among Young People and Implications,” the average tenure of youths who left their first job has been steadily declining. The tenure, which was 19.2 months in 2023, shortened to 18.4 months last year.

By contrast, the tenure of youths who continue at their first job increased from 42 months to 44.7 months over the same period. This indicates that polarization in working life is deepening.

The share of those who took at least one year from graduation to first employment has steadily risen, reaching 33.0% last year. As companies prefer experienced hires or “secondhand new hires” over true entry-level recruits, the barrier to entering the first job itself appears to have grown.

The non-employment period is also lengthening. Among the unemployed and the economically inactive, the share in “long-term non-employment,” defined as a non-employment spell of at least one year, surged from 22.6% last year to 30% this year. The office said, “In some cohorts of young people, non-employment is becoming prolonged, and subsequent transitions into the labor market are not proceeding smoothly.”

In particular, the most decisive factor determining the subsequent employment paths of young people turned out to be the “employment type of the first job.”

Among youths who began their first job as contract or temporary workers, 34.5% still remain on contracts. This is roughly twice the share among those who started their working lives in regular positions and later ended up on contracts (18.7%). By contrast, 81.3% of those who started in regular positions are still in regular jobs.

The share currently in non-employment also differed by employment type. For those whose first job was contract or temporary, the non-employment share was 42.1%, whereas for those who had been in regular positions but became non-employed it was a relatively lower 34.0%.

The office analyzed that “the more precarious the employment type of the first job, the greater the likelihood of being pushed into unemployment or economic inactivity,” and that “as non-employment becomes entrenched among some young people, the phenomenon of increasingly difficult reentry into the labor market is becoming clearer.”

Baek Ki-hong, an analyst in the Population Strategy Analysis Division at the Budget Office, said, “It is necessary to create conditions in the early career stage for accumulating job experience so that the first job can serve as a foundation for subsequent career formation,” and added, “Early interventions and tailored support are also needed to prevent long-term non-employment.”