Growing trend of part-time youth employment

Lee, a 21-year-old college student, works part-time at a coffee shop in Gwangak-gu, Seoul, to earn pay four days a week from 7pm to 10pm, which amounts to just three hours on shift. Despite this short work period, Lee spends another two hours moving.

After requesting more hours, Lee was informed by the business owner that extending the hours would require legally allowed vacation pay, which the owner could not afford. “There are very few part-time jobs available, and I was rejected by some after interviews because I lacked previous work experience,” Lee explained. “The cafe where I currently work accepted me despite my lack of experience. Even though the hours are insufficient, I had no choice.”

Last month, the number of new workers employed for less than 15 hours a week hit a record 450,000. This statistic shows that nine out of 10 workers are not entitled to statutory benefits such as holiday pay, paid time off or severance pay. These young workers are marginalized from various social security programs and are engaged in low-quality employment. Constrained by stagnant domestic consumption, small business owners increasingly rely on piecework employment, with negative effects that directly affect young people.

According to monthly data on the Economically Active Population survey conducted by Statistics Korea, the number of workers in their 20s and 30s who work less than 15 hours a week was reported to be 447,300, marking an increase of 17 percent from 382,300 a year ago. This figure is the highest since January 2000, when such data began to be collected. Conversely, the total number of workers in their 20s and 30s fell to 9.107 million, down 1 percent from last year. As employment opportunities for young people decline, the quality of available jobs deteriorates due to the spread of piecework.

The increase in extremely short-time employment among young people can lead to harmful consequences, such as the deterioration of human capital, a cost borne by society as a whole. However, small business owners trying to reduce payroll expenses to stay afloat often have no choice but to hire extremely short-time workers, despite the challenges this presents in managing their workforce. .

“The rise of extremely short-time work among young people is due to the lack of quality jobs,” said Ha Joon-gyeong, an economics professor at Hanyang University. “If young people constantly move from one short-term job to another during a period when they need to acquire skills and develop human capital, they are likely to remain in the low-skilled labor force, negatively affecting their earnings throughout life.”

세종=송혜미 기자 [email protected]