(코리아타운뉴스) Korean Companies Prefer Veterans Over Youngsters

Analysis of Job Korea USA’s employment case
More than half were paid less than $40,000

More Korean companies are employing those with professional experience over the ones seeking entry-level jobs.

According to data released by Korean recruiting business Job Korea USA on July 10, companies have reduced employment rate by 6.72 percent in the first half of 2017, which spans the period between Jan. 1 and June 30. The open employment rate has also been reduced to 31.88 percent after reaching 38.6 percent last year.

Businesses hired jobseekers with at least a year of experience as the ratio hit 22.83 percent of their overall employment cases. From there on, 14.49 percent were those with at least two years of experience, while 13.77 percent had three years of experience with 11.59 percent possessing at least five years of professional experience.

“It’s obvious that businesses prefer those who could contribute immediately after hiring,” said Job Korea USA president Brandon Lee. “Korean companies have hired entry-level jobseekers at a relatively higher rate in the past, but the recent trend indicates that they’re now considering the cost efficiency of employing veteran professionals.”

Office and administrative work was the industry with the highest hiring rate at 15.09 percent, followed by sales (12.54), accounting (10), advertising and marketing and shipping (7.54).

On average, the businesses paid their new employees somewhere between $30,000 and $60,000 as 79.46 percent of those hired were paid somewhere in that range. Up to 43.84 percent of those employees were paid from $30,000 to $40,000 a year. Interestingly enough, the ratio of those who were paid under $40,000 to $50,000 and $50,000 to $60,000 was the same at 17.81 percent. Only 2.74 percent were paid just under $90,000 and $100,000.

Fulltime jobs took up 87.88 percent of the employments, while part-timers and interns only made up 4.66 percent. About 67.67 percent of the employers required at least a bachelor’s degree from jobseekers, although 22.67 percent of them did accept associate’s degree, while 6.67 percent hired high school graduates.

The analysis was based on the 1,140 employment cases of businesses affiliated with Job Korea USA. More than 95 percent of the businesses are Korean-owned, according to Lee. California led the way with the highest ratio of employment at 65.24 percent, followed by New Jersey (6.36) and New York (4.15).


By Moonho Kim