Two in three young workers quit within a year — and the government wants to pay them for it

As the government moves to extend jobseeker benefits to workers under 35 who voluntarily resign, new data show that two in three voluntary resignees in that age group leave their first job before completing a year. Among those in their early 20s, the share rises to eight in 10.

The government's rationale is to give young workers whose first job proves a poor fit — in terms of duties or working conditions — the financial breathing room to pursue new opportunities without delaying their departure out of economic necessity.

Critics warn, however, that extending jobseeker benefits to voluntary resignees could accelerate early departures at a time when short tenures are already widespread among young workers. The fiscal strain on an employment insurance fund already running a deficit, and questions of fairness toward young people who have yet to find work at all, add to the challenges the government must resolve.

According to employment administration statistics from the Korea Employment Information Service, 192,299 people under 35 lost their employment insurance subscriber status as of June this year. Of those, 145,333 left voluntarily for personal reasons, while 1,085 resigned due to workplace relocation, changes in working conditions or unpaid wages.

Combined, the two categories of voluntary resignees totaled 146,418 people — 76.1% of all those who lost their employment insurance status.

Of those voluntary resignees under 35, 97,437 — or 66.5% — had been in their jobs for less than a year. Another 35,757 (24.4%) had tenures of one to three years. Together, those who quit before completing three years numbered 133,194, accounting for 91.0% of the total.

The younger the age group, the higher the early-exit rate. Among the 34,177 workers aged 20–24 who resigned voluntarily for personal reasons, 27,388 — or 80.1% — had worked for less than a year. In the 25–29 age group, 35,576 of 56,038 (63.5%) left before a year was up, as did 25,386 of 45,976 (55.2%) in the 30–34 bracket.

Against this backdrop, the government is pushing to broaden jobseeker benefit eligibility to cover young workers who leave voluntarily.

Under the current employment insurance system, jobseeker benefits are in principle paid only to those who leave involuntarily. Workers who resign voluntarily may still qualify if a legitimate reason — such as unpaid wages or a deterioration in working conditions — is recognized, but those who quit for purely personal reasons are generally excluded.

In its second-half work report for 2026, presented Tuesday, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said it would seek to amend the Employment Insurance Act to allow workers under 35 to receive jobseeker benefits once in their lifetime if they voluntarily change jobs after working for a minimum period.

The intent is to give young workers who feel trapped in a mismatched first job — but cannot afford to quit — time to move to a better-suited position or rethink their career path.

The minimum tenure requirement, benefit amount and payment duration have yet to be finalized. The government is considering setting different eligibility criteria from those that apply to existing recipients who lost their jobs involuntarily through dismissal or business closure. One option under discussion would provide up to about 1 million won ($704) per month, calculated at 60 percent of pre-resignation wages.

A central concern is that, depending on how the system is designed, the benefit could itself become an incentive for early resignation. Experts broadly agree with the goal of easing the mismatch young workers face in their first jobs, but say the eligibility conditions must be carefully calibrated.

"Young people often lack sufficient information about companies or job roles when choosing their first job, so there is a need to guarantee them time to move to a better fit," said Yun Dong-yeol, a professor of business administration at Konkuk University. He cautioned, however, that overly loose eligibility requirements could lead workers to view the benefit as a routine payout after quitting, producing side effects such as short stints followed by deliberate resignation, or intentional gaps in employment to qualify for the benefit.

The fiscal picture adds to the concern. According to the fiscal year 2025 settlement report, the employment insurance fund posted a deficit of 592 billion won last year. While the fund's year-end reserves stood at 7.8 trillion won, the effective reserve — excluding borrowings from the Public Fund Management Fund — was just 79.6 billion won. The unemployment benefit account, which covers jobseeker benefits and related payouts, was 5.99 trillion won in the red on an effective basis.

Yun warned that expanding coverage without addressing the structural imbalance in the employment insurance fund would increase the fiscal burden and ultimately put upward pressure on insurance premiums. "The scale of eligible recipients, the fiscal cost, and long-term sustainability all need to be examined together," he said.

Fairness concerns are also expected to surface. Using employment insurance funds to support young workers who chose to resign after at least some work experience could be seen as inequitable toward those who have yet to land a job at all.

"Supporting only young people with voluntary resignation experience could create a fairness problem relative to those who are unemployed," said Kim Woo-cheol, a professor of tax studies at the University of Seoul. If the policy goal is to help young people try again and find work, he added, the government should also consider using a separate job-search allowance rather than relying on the unemployment benefit system.