Concern about the effect of retirement-age reform on younger workers is rising sharply. A new survey found that 81 percent of Koreans aged 20 to 34 expect companies to reduce new hiring if the legal retirement age is extended.
The Korea Employers Federation surveyed 1,052 young people who were either employed or looking for work. The share expecting lower recruitment was 10.2 percentage points higher than in a similar survey last year, when 70.8 percent gave the same answer.
A generational labor-market concern
The result lands as unions and lawmakers intensify discussion of extending the retirement age. For younger workers, the issue is not only how long older employees remain in jobs, but whether companies respond by slowing replacement hiring or reducing the number of entry-level positions.
The broader labor-market mood is already weak. In the same survey, 62.9 percent described the employment environment as difficult. Among those respondents, frequently cited reasons included stronger employer preference for experienced workers and a decline in overall recruitment.
That creates a policy tension. Extending working lives can help older employees maintain income and stay in the labor force longer, but younger people fear the adjustment could be absorbed through fewer openings for new workers. Employer groups have used the hiring concern to argue for caution, while critics of that position say companies should not use retirement-age reform as a justification for shrinking recruitment.
For job seekers, the meaningful outcome would be visible in company behavior if reform advances. Changes in retirement rules matter less to young workers than the resulting number of vacancies, entry-level hiring budgets and opportunities to gain the work experience employers increasingly demand.