New hiring at South Korea’s major companies fell 15% over the two years from 2023 to 2025. The employment share of people aged 30 or younger declined, while that of people aged 50 or older increased, making the generational reversal increasingly clear.
An analysis of data from 113 of South Korea’s 500 major companies that disclosed employment figures by age group found that new hiring fell 15.3%, from 109,456 people in 2023 to 92,680 last year.
Total employment edged down from 1,262,928 to 1,259,051. By age group, however, the number of employees aged 30 or younger fell from 267,343 in 2023 to 230,434 last year, while their share of total employment declined from 21.2% to 18.3%.
The number of employees aged 50 or older increased from 221,333 to 231,848, and their share of total employment rose from 17.5% to 18.4%, surpassing that of employees aged 30 or younger.
The share of new hires aged 30 or younger also declined, from 56.4% in 2023 to 51.1% last year. The share of new hires aged 50 or older rose from 8.3% to 11.2%. These disparities were particularly pronounced in industries focused on domestic demand.