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2.8 in 100 jobseekers land job amid increasingly tightening job market

2.8 in 100 jobseekers land job amid increasingly tightening job market

Posted June. 19, 2017 07:12,   

Updated June. 19, 2017 07:40

한국어

Jobseekers are finding it increasingly more difficult to land a job. With competition to enter conglomerates having intensified and the race to join small and medium-sized enterprises weakened, jobseekers are going after larger companies all the more, it has been revealed. 


The Korea Employers Federation said Sunday the results of its 2017 new recruit employment survey suggest that the average competitive ratio of employment has increased to 35.7 to 1, which represents a 10.5 percent gain from 32.3 to 1 in 2015. It means that only 2.8 persons in 100 people who applied for jobs were successful in employment. The survey questions were sent to over 2,000 conglomerates and smaller companies, and 312 companies among the firms that employed new recruits from January to April this year sent reply.

Conglomerates and SMEs were quite different in their employment mood. Companies with 300 employees or more had a competitive ratio of 38.5 to 1, which represents a 7.8 percent increase from two years ago (35.7 to 1). However, companies with less than 300 employees saw the competitive ratio decline by 12.1 percent during the period from 6.6 to 1 to 5.8 to 1.

“Young jobseekers are increasingly shunning SMEs due to lower pays and less competitive fringe benefits than those of conglomerates, and they are increasingly going after jobs at conglomerates,” said Sohn Seok-oh, chief of Economic Survey Team 2 at the Korea Employers Federation.

Meanwhile, 93.3 percent of the companies that employed new recruits this year said they disregard or give minimum consideration to jobseekers specifications, such as the name of colleges jobseekers graduate and foreign language scores they acquire. In contrast, 65.4 percent of the firms replied that they give consideration to job-related experience such as internships.



Min-Ji Jung jmj@donga.com