South Korea government launches youth job recovery plan amid falling manufacturing and construction employment

June saw a modest rise of 63,300 workers in South Korea, bringing total employment to 29.15 million, but the overall employment rate slipped to 63.4% and the youth employment rate fell to 43.9%, marking a 26‑month decline. Youth job losses totaled 197,000, while manufacturing employment dropped by 97,000 for the 24th consecutive month and construction jobs fell by 67,000 for the 26th month.

The government responded by convening a joint job task force and pledged to unveil a comprehensive youth job recovery plan in the third quarter. The draft plan aims to train over 200,000 specialists in advanced industries, create more than 200,000 quality public and private jobs by 2030, and strengthen incentives across all stages of the labour market. At the same time, the Finance Ministry raised its growth forecast to 3% while cutting its projected net job increase for the year to 150,000, underscoring concerns about “growth without jobs.”