Elderly jobseekers fill in resumes at a job fair in Seoul, Nov. 21, 2024. Yonhap
People in their 60s or older looking for jobs increased last year despite a decline in all other age groups, data showed Sunday.
A total of 4,525,456 new job applications were posted on government-run employment website Worknet in 2024, marking a 5.3 percent decline from a year earlier, according to data from the Korea Employment Information Service.
Of them, job seekers in their 20s accounted for the largest portion with 1,074,842 new fillings, followed by those in their 60s or older with 962,173 cases.
The number of senior job seekers marked a 0.3 percent on-year increase, while respective figures for all other age groups fell.
In particular, the number for people in their 40s dropped by a whopping 12.9 percent, the data showed.
The increase in the number of senior job seekers was attributed to increasing older population amid the aging of society, as well as a growing number of seniors wanting to continue working.
Seniors also tended to look for jobs more frequently as many of them worked temporary jobs compared with younger generations.
Meanwhile, the number of seniors who received unemployment benefits ratcheted up along with their activeness in the job market, with recipients in their 60s or older accounting for 26.4 percent of the total in 2024, compared with 20.6 percent in 2020. (Yonhap)
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