AI's advance: over half of youth job losses concentrated in IT sectors

The impact of artificial intelligence on jobs is becoming increasingly visible. More than half of the young workers who lost employment last month were in industries with high AI exposure, including information and communications and professional, scientific and technical services.

According to an analysis of microdata from the Ministry of Statistics' economically active population survey released Sunday, the number of employed young people aged 15 to 29 fell by 191,362 in July compared with the same month last year.

Of that total, youth employment in the information and communications industry dropped by 74,517 from a year earlier — the largest monthly decline on record since 2014, when online analysis of the microdata became available.

Youth employment in professional, scientific and technical services also fell by 23,640.

Combined, the two sectors shed 98,157 young workers, accounting for 51.3 percent of the total decline in youth employment in July.

The two industries together represent just 11.6 percent of the youth labor market in July — information and communications at 5.2 percent and professional, scientific and technical services at 6.5 percent.

The information and communications sector encompasses publishing, postal and telecommunications services, and computer programming. Professional, scientific and technical services covers research and development, legal, accounting, tax and consulting work. Both are considered prime examples of industries with high AI exposure.

Until last year, declines in youth employment had been concentrated in traditional, in-person industries such as manufacturing and accommodation and food services, which together accounted for 67.5 percent of the total drop in youth employment over the course of last year.

This year, however, the share of losses attributable to information and communications and professional, scientific and technical services has been growing.

The combined share of declines in the two sectors soared to 65.6 percent in February. It fell back to 33.1 percent in March as job losses in professional, scientific and technical services temporarily narrowed sharply, before climbing back into the 40 percent range and surpassing the majority mark in July.

Concerns are also mounting that employment shifts driven by the spread of AI could weigh disproportionately on younger workers.

A report titled "AI and the Korean Economy," released by the Bank of Korea in February last year, found that younger workers hold a higher concentration of jobs with elevated AI exposure than older workers, partly due to differences in educational background.

"More than half of domestic jobs — 51 percent — will be significantly affected by the adoption of AI," the report said, adding that "for women, young people, and those with higher education and income, AI will function as both a crisis and an opportunity."