Workers over 50 outnumber 20-somethings at S. Korea’s top firms

Aging workforce surpasses under-30 talent for the first time amid hiring slowdowns and delayed retirements across key industries

Illustrated by Chosun Design Lab Lee Yeon-ju

South Korean companies are experiencing a generational shift as employees aged 50 and above now outnumber those in their 20s. This trend is especially clear in the secondary battery industry.

Corporate tracker Leaders Index on Aug. 5 analyzed 124 of the top 500 companies by revenue that report workforce age data. Last year, the share of employees under 30 dropped by 1.2 percentage points to 19.8%, while the share of workers over 50 rose by 0.6 percentage points to 20.1%. This is the first time since 2015 that the share of workers aged 50 and above has surpassed that of employees under 30.

The share of employees under 30 fell below 20% for the first time, even though total employees slightly increased from 1,097,758 in 2023 to 1,116,587 in 2024.

Over the last three years, workers under 30 declined from 235,923 (21.9%) in 2022 to 230,888 (21.0%) in 2023, and then to 221,369 (19.8%) in 2024. Meanwhile, workers over 50 grew steadily from 206,040 (19.1%) in 2022 to 214,098 (19.5%) in 2023, and 224,438 (20.1%) in 2024.

The secondary battery sector had the biggest gap, with workers under 30 dropping 9.7 percentage points (7,789 people) and those over 50 rising 1.2 points (496 people), creating a 10.9-point difference. The IT and electronics sector also saw a 5.4-point drop (15,300 people) in younger workers and a 3.1-point rise (6,933 people) in older workers, resulting in an 8.5-point gap.

Among companies, SK Hynix showed the biggest gap. In two years, the under-30 share dropped 15 points, while the over-50 share rose 8.2 points, a total difference of 23.2 points.

“With the economy slowing, most industries including secondary battery and IT have slowed hiring,” Leaders Index said. ”At the same time, retirements have been delayed, speeding up workforce aging. This has slowed turnover and made older workers outnumber younger ones.”