Struggling to Find Jobs, Young Entrepreneurs Face Debt and Business Closures

[Anchor]

While our economy appears to be performing well according to key indicators, the job market for young people shows little sign of improvement. The number of employed youth is plummeting, and the number of young entrepreneurs closing their businesses has increased significantly compared to the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Reporter Jung Jun-ho explores the reality facing young people, for whom both the doors to employment and entrepreneurship have been shut.

[Reporter]

Person A, who holds a graduate degree in design, decided to open a brunch cafe in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, in 2023 after facing difficulties in finding a job.

While the start was smooth, the number of customers gradually dwindled. Unable to keep up with soaring labor costs and other expenses, A eventually closed the business in April of last year, just a year and a half after opening.

The only thing left was 60 million won in debt.

[Person A / Young Entrepreneur: The cost of food ingredients rose too much compared to when I first started. When I closed the business, the revenue was only about 20 percent of what I had expected.]

A tried to use the experience of running a business to apply for jobs in the food industry, but even that proved difficult.

[Person A / Young Entrepreneur: Companies are not looking to hire new people, and I feel that my experience is considered useless when trying to enter a company.]

For young people struggling with unemployment, entrepreneurship is often seen as an alternative opportunity.

However, due to a combination of lack of experience, limited capital, and sluggish domestic demand, the number of business closures among those in their 30s and younger last year was 12 percent higher than four years ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak.

The closure rate is 6 percentage points higher than the overall average.

The problem is that the job market is also becoming increasingly frozen.

[Kim Min-seo / Job Seeker: I am anxious because if I cannot find a job next year, a gap period will form, and I will be set back by two to three years.]

In May, the number of employed youth saw its largest decline in 5 years and 4 months.

[Kim Gwang-seok / Head of Economic Research at the Korea Economic & Industrial Research Institute: The period during which young people can build the ability to support themselves is being delayed. This could lead to a lack of experienced professionals and talent who are supposed to serve as the backbone of the future economy.]

With both employment and entrepreneurship—the two pillars of youth economic activity—collapsing simultaneously, there is a growing sense of crisis that time is running out to prevent a decline in the vitality of not only the economy but society as a whole.

(Video reported by Kim Se-kyung | Video edited by Park Na-young | VJ: Jeong Han-wook)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.