New hires at major Korean conglomerates fall 15% in two years as older workers outnumber youth for first time

New hiring at South Korea's major conglomerates has fallen more than 15 percent over the past two years, according to a new analysis.

The decline has been sharpest among workers under 30, whose numbers dropped by double digits, while employment of workers aged 50 and older increased — pushing the older cohort's share of total employment above that of younger workers for the first time. Analysts say the combination of shrinking demand for new hires and an aging existing workforce is steadily narrowing the door for young people seeking jobs at large companies.

Leaders Index, a corporate research firm, analyzed employment data from 132 of South Korea's top 500 companies covering 2023 to 2025. Among the 113 companies that disclosed new-hire figures, total new hires last year came to 92,680 — down 16,776, or 15.3 percent, from 109,456 in 2023.

Total employment across the same group edged down only slightly, from 1,262,928 to 1,259,051 — a decline of 3,877 workers. While the overall headcount remained largely stable, the internal age composition of these companies shifted rapidly alongside the drop in new hiring.

The most striking change was the decline in younger workers. Employees aged 30 and under fell from 267,343 in 2023 to 230,434 last year, a drop of 36,909, or 13.8 percent. Their share of total employment fell 2.9 percentage points, from 21.2 percent to 18.3 percent.

Workers aged 50 and older moved in the opposite direction over the same period, rising from 221,333 to 231,848 — an increase of 10,715, or 4.8 percent. Their share of total employment rose from 17.5 percent to 18.4 percent.

In 2023, workers under 30 outnumbered those 50 and older by 3.7 percentage points. Two years later, the situation has reversed: last year, the 50-and-older cohort's share of 18.4 percent edged past the under-30 group's 18.3 percent by 0.1 percentage point.

New-hire data showed a similar trend. Workers under 30 accounted for 51.1 percent of all new hires last year, down 5.3 percentage points from 56.4 percent in 2023. The share of new hires aged 50 and older rose 2.9 percentage points over the same period, from 8.3 percent to 11.2 percent.

The gap between younger and older workers was particularly pronounced in domestic demand-driven sectors, including retail, food and beverage, construction and building materials, and telecommunications.

The retail sector had the highest share of workers aged 50 and older last year at 31.8 percent, followed by food and beverage at 30.6 percent and construction and building materials at 29.7 percent.

The generational divide was even wider in telecommunications. Workers aged 50 and older made up 25.6 percent of the sector's workforce, while those under 30 accounted for just 6.6 percent — meaning older workers outnumbered younger ones by roughly four to one.

The same pattern was visible at individual companies. At Lotte Shopping, workers aged 50 and older made up 44.1 percent of the workforce last year, while those under 30 accounted for just 5.2 percent — a ratio of more than eight to one. At SK Telecom, workers 50 and older made up 37.0 percent of staff, compared with just 8.6 percent for those under 30.

Several companies also saw steep drops in youth hiring. Hite Jinro hired just one worker aged 29 or younger last year, down from 82 in 2023. Hyundai Motor Company's new hires in the same age group fell 65.1 percent, from 16,551 to 5,782.

However, youth hiring did not decline across all sectors. In growth industries such as semiconductors and biotech, hiring of younger workers actually increased sharply.

SK Hynix's total new hires surged more than fourfold, from 739 in 2023 to 3,201 last year, with youth hires jumping more than tenfold — from 228 to 2,560. Samsung Biologics more than doubled its youth new hires over the same period, from 205 to 484.