South Korea Youth Employment Falls by 285,000 as 94% of Losses Hit AI-Exposed Sectors
Updated
Updated · Kyodo News Plus · Aug 18
South Korea Youth Employment Falls by 285,000 as 94% of Losses Hit AI-Exposed Sectors
2 articles · Updated · Kyodo News Plus · Aug 18
Summary
285,000 jobs held by South Koreans aged 15 to 29 disappeared between June 2022 and June 2026, with 268,000 of those losses concentrated in AI-exposed industries, the Bank of Korea said.
IT services led the drop with youth employment down 31.4%, followed by publishing at 27.4%, computer programming at 16.6% and professional services at 11.6% after generative AI tools emerged.
Older workers moved the other way: jobs held by people in their 50s rose by 230,000 over the same period, including 173,000 in the same AI-exposed sectors.
Degree holders appeared more vulnerable after 2022, with youth unemployment at 7.0% for undergraduate or graduate degree holders versus 5.4% for secondary-school or junior-college graduates, a 1.6-point gap.
The central bank said population decline also drove the shift, but AI has accelerated a shrinking career ladder for young workers since ChatGPT's late-2022 launch.