Help the NEETs stand on their own feet

The dualism in the labor market stemming from the gaps between large and smaller companies and between regular and irregular workers should be addressed to make the young more economically active.

Gen Z in Korea are catching up with the novel fad of their global peers — doing nothing. In China, the trend is called “tang ping,” which literally means “lying flat,” after being withdrawn from social activities amid the slowing economy and widening wealth gap. In English, the term is NEET, or “not in employment, education or training.” Korea has to make its own coinage as those aged between 15 and 29 idling without doing any work or looking for one numbered 443,000 last month, a record high for July, according to Statistics Korea.

Against a smaller youth population, the share of the “idled” reached a historic high of 5.4 percent. Statistics Korea categorize those missing from employment and jobless data as “idled” among the economically inactive population who have no serious illnesses or disabilities to abstain from working.

More worrisome than the increasing number is that these youths lost the will to work. Of the “idling” youths, 75.6 percent said they do not wish to work. They are not actively looking for a job because of the mismatch between wage and work terms and their needs (42.9 percent), a lack of jobs (18.7 percent) or a lack of education and skills (13.4 percent).

The growth of NEET among the young epitomizes multiple societal problems. The young are well-educated, but the deepening polarization in jobs pulls them out of economic activities. The gap in salaries between large and smaller companies is the biggest reason. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the pretax monthly pay for Korean workers averaged at 5.91 million won ($4,363) at large companies and 2.86 million won at smaller companies. The fortress around well-paying and secure jobs is also being fortified. Unions of some large companies demand their retirement age be extended. Companies also prefer to hire experienced workers, leaving less room for rookies.

The growing NEET population translates to huge socio-economic losses. Youthful capabilities and potentials will go to waste, negatively impacting labor capital. The young are not dating, getting married or having children as they don’t have decent jobs. Their void poses a structural weakness in consumption and domestic demand. Lonely deaths among the young also can worsen.

The dualism in the labor market stemming from the gaps between large and smaller companies and between regular and irregular workers should be addressed to make the young more economically active. Labor reforms and industrial structure overhauls should be expedited. In the short term, the government must provide effective programs to raise the practical abilities of the young, as youth employment is the key driver of national growth.