Manufacturing sector is getting rid of the 'good jobs' that young people want

A worker is seen during a demonstration of overhead work using the X-ble Shoulder and the Spot AI Keeper at Hyundai Motor's booth at CES 2026 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas on Jan. 7. [HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY]

 
Korea’s manufacturing sector is getting rid of the jobs that young people want the most. As companies automate and invest more in machines than in workers, stable, full-time positions at large manufacturers are shrinking, making it harder for young people to enter the labor market.
 
Kim, who requested anonymity and only provided their surname, is a 32-year-old jobseeker who, after a yearlong search, recently found work as a safety manager at a midsize company in Gyeonggi.
 

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“Even though I hold three certifications, including one for electrical engineering and one for industrial safety engineering, I found it almost impossible to land a regular manufacturing job at a large company,” Kim said. “It felt like threading a needle [because] most job postings are looking to hire just one person.”
 
Even Hyundai Motor Group, an automaker that used to hire around 1,000 workers annually, is hiring only 300 technical workers this year after selecting 500 last year. 
 
Hyundai Motor resumed hiring through labor-management consultations in 2023 after halting the process for almost a decade, but its recruitment scale has been limited. Despite this, competition remains fierce for the so-called king of production jobs, with competition ratios reaching literal hundreds to one.
 
Beyond Hyundai Motor, the number of manufacturing workers, which accounts for the largest share in Korea’s labor market, is shrinking rapidly; of these, higher-quality jobs favored by young people in particular are disappearing.
 

A body-welding production line at Kia's EVO Plant East in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, is seen on Nov. 14, 2025. [YONHAP]

 
The number of manufacturing workers fell for three consecutive years, from 4.503 million in 2022 to 4.461 million in 2023, 4.455 million in 2024 and 4.382 million in 2025, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The manufacturing employment rate also declined for 18 consecutive months.
 
What makes the trend even more troubling is that the downtick is concentrated in “good jobs.” An analysis of microdata from the Data Ministry shows that the trend has been most pronounced among regular workers, with the number of regular workers falling by 66,730 between 2022 and 2025. This marks the sharpest drop among all worker categories. 
 
By workplace size, employment at small- and mid-sized manufacturing companies with 30 to 99 employees decreased the most, going from 957,083 to 885,545 — a difference of 71,538 — over the same period.
 

 
Employment at large manufacturing companies with 300 or more workers also shrank for three consecutive years, from 922,011 in 2022 to 903,049 last year — a difference of 18,962.
 
By contrast, employment at very small manufacturing businesses with fewer than five workers increased, rising from 616,784 to 650,760 over the same period.
 
Regular jobs and positions at large companies with 300 or more workers constitute the category that saw the steepest decline is the most preferred by young people.
 
Experts say recent growth in manufacturing has been centered on semiconductors, which does relatively little to create jobs, and automation and machinery adoption have been concentrated among large companies, which causes good jobs to disappear first.
 
The concern, then, is that this trend is likely to intensify.
 

Hyundai Motor's Atlas robot is seen moving parts at the Hyundai Motor's booth for CES 2026 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas on Jan. 7. [YONHAP]

 
“Humanoid robots such as Atlas are likely to be introduced mainly at large companies, and in the United States, there are also demands for Korean conglomerates to build factories to create manufacturing jobs locally,” said Kim Yoo-bin, a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute.
 
“Given the characteristics of Korea’s labor market, in which layoffs are difficult, the exit for existing workers will narrow gradually, but the entrance [...] for new employees will do the same much more sharply.”
 
As a result, young people are expected to be disproportionately affected.
 
“Manufacturing is important for youth employment because it is a field in which skills can be accumulated and wages are relatively high,” Kim added. “People in their 20s tend to avoid manufacturing, but once they enter their 30s, it becomes one of the main employment options — and that pathway has now collapsed.”
 

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting with manufacturing companies at Saesol Diamond's heardquarters in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on Sept. 3, 2025. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

 
Both the government and experts broadly agree that restoring the number of good jobs to previous levels is difficult under the current industrial structure. As a result, the government aims to improve existing jobs so that young people are more willing to choose them.
 
With the number of economically inactive youth, or those neither working nor studying, exceeding 700,000, the government plans to unveil a comprehensive youth policy package later this month.
 
The plan will consist of two main pillars: the so-called Youth New Deal led by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and a youth startup initiative spearheaded by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. 
 
One of the key tasks of the Youth New Deal is to turn provincial small- and mid-sized companies, which young people currently shun in favor of production jobs at large companies, into viable employment options.
 

Minister of Labor and Employment Kim Young-hoon speaks during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 14. [KANG JUNG-HYUN]

 
“Shipbuilding is becoming a core driver of future growth, but there is a shortage of skilled workers,” said Minister of Labor and Employment Kim Young-hoon in a recent interview with the JoongAng Ilbo. “We need to make manufacturing and construction jobs, including shipbuilding, attractive options for young people.”
 
“This will not be a simple approach comprising the Labor Ministry providing hiring subsidies to companies,” Minister Kim stressed. “It will involve coordinated efforts across ministries — such as smart factories under the SMEs Ministry and industrial complex innovation under the Industry Ministry — and the 1,000-won [$0.70] breakfast program under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
 
In addition, the Labor Ministry is preparing a policy dubbed the “K-Youth Guarantee,” which will connect young people to a workplace within four months of graduation, as well as provide services, including various work experiences beyond internships and aide from the National Employment Support System.
 

Minister of Labor and Employment Kim Young-hoon, left, is seen during an on-site inspection of small construction sites in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, on Jan. 22. [YONHAP]

 
Youth unemployment is not unique to Korea. It is a shared challenge among manufacturing-based economies worldwide.
 
China’s youth unemployment rate stands at 16.5 percent, a result of shrinking high-quality manufacturing jobs and young people avoiding manufacturing positions with poor working conditions.
 
Though China has rolled out youth employment policies — such as providing employment subsidies to companies that hire young people, encouraging state-owned enterprises to recruit more workers and sending young people to regional areas — since 2023,  these measures have yet to produce clear results.
 
Germany, on the other hand, has often been cited as a leader in manufacturing and youth employment and is now being depicted as a role model for Korea.
 

President Lee Jae Myung, far center, is seen presiding over a meeting with manufacturing companies at Saesol Diamond's heardquarters in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on Sept. 3, 2025. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

 
In response to the AI era, Germany has launched Weiterbildung 2030, or Continuing Education 2030, to pursue a structural shift in its employment policy. Rather than focusing on youth employment, the German government has placed education at the center of its strategy.
 
The focus of public services has shifted from jobs and employment to capabilities, with the state intervening even before an individual is hired and immediately after they enter the workforce.
 
For example, once people reach the age at which they can enter the labor market, they can open a learning account before ever being hired, allowing their current skills, gaps in their skills and potential future job transitions to be systematically managed. In contrast, Korea typically begins retraining a person only after they experience unemployment.
 
“Germany defines young people as the group most exposed to transition risks,” said Kwon Hyuk, a professor at Korea University’s Graduate School of Labor Studies. “It is difficult to expect traditional jobs to be created on a large scale as in the past, so young people in the AI era must constantly adapt to new jobs or careers or pursue entrepreneurship.”
 
“Government support should move away from simply creating or finding jobs and instead shift toward active, lifelong skills development,” Prof. Kwon added.


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM YEON-JOO [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]