Jobseekers look at recruitment billboards at a job fair held in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, last March. / Yonhap

By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Twenty-seven-year old Lim said she's always ready to cry these days, despite graduating from a four-year university after finishing an English training program in the United States.

The reason? Following her graduation, no one hired her. Although she sent her resume to tens of companies she received no return calls.

Lim, however, said the most devastating thing was not being unemployed but her friends telling her to get a job.

``I want job security, welfare coverage and things I can really relate myself to. Am I asking for too much?'' she said. The answer may be no, but Lim said all her friends and families said yes, and that she should look for a less attractive job.

At the moment, there are thousands of Lims in Korea. Those, who have given in to the reality that there are few permanent jobs and many non-permanent and temporary jobs, are living a hard life.

Prof. Woo Seok-hoon labeled them the ``880,000 won Generation,'' who make little money in spite of their high education, enthusiasm and long endurance at their work, should they succeed in getting any one. The 880,000 won stands for the estimated average monthly salary a 20-something non-permanent worker makes.

These days, becoming civil servants who can work until their late 50s or even 60s without threat of being sacked seems to be the most popular occupation among students. This year, Seoul Metropolitan city government received 144,445 applications for its ninth-grade and seventh-grade position, marking a competition rate of 83:1.

Woo said the new heroes in this generation aren't those who followed their vision or passion, but those who were able to get stable jobs or work at large corporations.

He also said the generation lacks independence because they know most of them will never get to buy their own house with their salaries unless something unusual happens. ``In their parent's generation, being diligent and saving allowed people to buy `my house,' but these days, very few can buy a small apartment in Seoul by saving,'' he said.

According to the government, only half of university graduates managed to get permanent jobs this year. College and high school graduates, of course have less chances of becoming permanent workers in this environment.

Additionally, Prof. Eun Soo-mi of the Korea Labor Institute said the chances for the non-permanent workers to be reassigned as permanent workers were very low. ``This is exactly why we see so many students staying all night at university libraries studying to get prestigious or stable jobs,'' she said.

The government claims unemployment among the young is 8 percent.

The number of growing non-temporary workers can be quite dangerous for society. Eun said it breaks the social morality and basis of communities.

``First, the number of suicide goes up ― most of those who commit suicide are non-permanent workers or economically underprivileged people. Also, companies will have to face a growing cost in educating workers as they come and go frequently. In addition, if they do not have a certain level of craftsmanship, who will actually make them?'' she said.

However, many people don't consider this a serious issue. The Grand National Party's presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak is leading all the polls, but shows little understanding toward youth employment.

When he visited Mokwon University in Daejeon, he told students that they had too high a standard for getting jobs. He said non-permanent work is not always bad and that it is way better than not getting a job at all. ``I say you tone down your dream a little and be realistic,'' he said adding that there will eventually be no such thing as job security any way.

Other presidential candidates have all set out their own labor policies, but while they focus on the quantity of jobs they will create, most of them keep silent about their quality.

``Companies should be willing to hire youngsters as regular workers and the current regular workers should be ready to share their part, too ― such as not asking for drastic pay rises or fringe benefits,'' Eun said.

``The so-called vested-interest people should be willing to share their positions, for a better future, or we might end up as one of the both richest and poorest countries in the world,'' Woo said, criticizing the winner-takes-all economy.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr