"Free Money Given by the Government"... Young Workers Resign En Masse Before Reaching One Year

The government is pushing to revise the system so that young adults under 35 can receive unemployment benefits at least once in their lifetime, even if they quit their jobs voluntarily.

However, looking at voluntary resignations among those under 35 in the first half of this year, about two out of three quit their jobs after working for less than a year.

In particular, among those in their early 20s, 8 out of 10 voluntary quitters left their jobs within a year.

According to employment administration statistics from the Korea Employment Information Service, the number of loss of eligibility for employment insurance among those under 35 reached 192,299 in the first half of this year.

Among them, 146,418 people left their jobs voluntarily due to personal reasons, accounting for 76.1% of the total.

Looking at their tenure, those who worked for less than a year reached 97,437, accounting for 66.5%.

The younger the age group, the higher the rate of short-term resignation.

For those aged 20 to 24, 80.1% of voluntary quitters failed to complete a year, compared to 63.5% for those aged 25 to 29, and 55.2% for those aged 30 to 34.

Against this backdrop, the government is pushing to amend the Employment Insurance Act so that young adults under 35 can receive job-seeking benefits once in their lifetime, even if they voluntarily resign after working for a certain period or longer.

Currently, in principle, people cannot receive job-seeking benefits if they quit their jobs voluntarily.

The intended purpose of the system is to give young people—whose first job duties or working conditions do not fit them—an opportunity to find new jobs without delaying their resignation due to immediate livelihood burdens, but counterarguments are also emerging.

Critics point out that given that two-thirds of young people who voluntarily resign already do not work for even a year, providing unemployment benefits for voluntary resignations could further lower the threshold for early resignation.

Issues of fairness with young people who have not yet secured a job are also being raised.

The finances of employment insurance are another variable.

The employment insurance fund for the 2025 fiscal year recorded a net deficit of 592 billion won, and excluding the money borrowed from the Public Fund Management Fund, the actual reserve stands at a mere 79.6 billion won.

Looking solely at the unemployment benefit account, it is in a deficit of approximately 6 trillion won on an actual basis.

Online reactions have already emerged, such as "There is no reason not to take free money given by the government" and "It seems like there will be fewer reasons to endure difficult workplaces."

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Lee Eui-seon | Graphics by Lee Soo-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.