[Anchor]
From January to August of this year, the number of employed young adults in their 20s dropped by 5.6% compared to the same period last year. This is a more severe downturn than immediately following the global financial crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic. While the overall employment rate remains similar to last year, the youth employment rate fell by 1 percentage point, and the time it takes to land a first job has also increased compared to 10 years ago. Given these circumstances, live-in employment boot camps for job seekers—reminiscent of residential cram schools for university entrance exam repeaters—have emerged. We listened to the stories of young people there.
Reporter Lee Se-hyeon has the story.
[Reporter]
[There is a welding sequence from number 1 to 39...]
With an average age of 28.
At this three-month live-in employment boot camp, 27 job seekers learn coding starting at 9 a.m.
[Kim Yubin (27) / Suwon, Gyeonggi Province: I was making an automated solution to predict whether a finished battery is defective or of good quality.]
At the boot camp, named after military training camps, worries about employment continue even during break times and lunch hours.
[(Is it until October 17th? One month. Are you going to apply for the job posting?) I have to apply.]
Although the daily routine ends past 9 p.m., they do not stop individual studying even after returning to their lodgings.
[Kim Young-sik (32) / Wonju, Gangwon Province: Living here 24 hours a day and constantly studying with fellow trainees on projects... I should say we are a bit more desperate. Because, well, there is age to consider.]
Over 100 people applied from all over the country, and 31 entered the program after passing document screening and interview procedures. Four trainees successfully secured jobs and left the camp after just one month.
[Eun Ji-won / Boot Camp Instructor: Because entering a live-in camp is not an easy decision for students, there are many students with a correspondingly high will to learn...]
The boot camp is part of the "K-New Deal Academy," for which the government injected 988 billion KRW in supplementary budget in April to address youth unemployment, and participation is free of charge.
About 50 companies receiving tax benefits and other support provide venues and run the educational programs.
[Lee Ju-hee / Professor of Sociology, Ewha Womans University: (Boot camps) mean entering a camp like the military and having to learn all day long. It gives the feeling that job competition has turned into a job war.]
In an era where employment is difficult despite having the highest credentials in history, another grueling day quickly passed for young job seekers who voluntarily entered an employment boot camp.
[Cha Se-il (31) / Nam-gu, Busan: I am approaching this with a heavy heart, thinking of it as my last challenge. Our ultimate goal for all of us is successful employment, and our collective wish is to achieve that ultimate goal after acquiring all the necessary work skills.]
(Video Reported by Kang Si-woo | Video Edited by Park Na-young | Graphics by Cho Su-in)
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