[vol.21] [Feature] 1. Analysis of recruitment and job-seeking tends

Feature 1. Analysis of recruitment and job-seeking tends

The Problem of Female Unemployment in the Light of Recruitment and
Job-Seeking Trends
- Focusing on Women Beyond Middle Age -

Jin Young Park (Research Officer, KWWAU)

The mass media proclaims that the economy is growing and wages and increasing. However, women still seem to lead exhausting lives. A number of women visiting the Action Center for Unemployed Women still protest the difficulties they face finding new jobs. It is particularly hard for women above middle age to get work. The mass media recommends obtaining certain certificates or licenses to gain new employment, but it appears that in reality that finding a job takes a lot more. The Action Center for Unemployed Women conducted research into the cases of 1,441 clients at 7 ACWU branches in Seoul, Puchon, Ansan, Inchon, North Cholla, Kwangju, and Masan & Changwon, and through 500 recruiting centers in Seoul, Ansan, Inchon, North Cholla, Kwangju, and Masan & Changwon, in order to determine the root causes of the problem.

1. Job-Seeker Characteristics

The majority of the 1,441 job-seekers are in their 30s (35.1%) and 40s (30.4%). 18.2% of them are in their 20s and 82.9% of them are married.

47.3% of them identified themselves as family heads and 32.7% of them identified themselves as main earners in the family. The women with a spouse are not always in a better situation.

Among the married women, 32.8% of their spouses are unemployed, 26.1% of their spouses are in insecure employment, and 13.2% of their spouses are undergoing a business crisis. About 80% of the married women are seeking a job in needy circumstances.

The principal sector approached by the job-seekers is simple labor (20.9%), followed by manufacturing (16.9%) and public labor service work (15.8%). One significant observation which was made in relation to this research question was that more older women could not identify a particular sector in which they sought work. left this question unanswered.

It seems that 1) the older women have less of a chance to find work in the labor market, and 2) they are in the most desperate situation and will take any job. In terms of the sought employment conditions, regardless of age or marital status, a large proportion of the job-seekers - 45.4% - want a permanent job.

The working hours desired are under 9 hours per day for 37.9% and 9 hours per day for 24.9%. This in fact means that 72.8% of them wish to work for less than 9 hours a day. To the question of the anticipated monthly wage, 30.6% indicated ￦600,000. Excluding teen- agers, the older workers had lower expectations with regard to wages.

The gap between expected wages and the reality is very wide (see Graph 1). This shows that since the economic crisis, workers have had no other choice but to accept lower wages. The women workers aged between 40 and 70 face the widest differentiation between expected and real wages - a difference of over ￦100,000.

This indicates the unemployment problem facing women in this age group is extremely serious and is the source of demoralization and depression.

In other words, the only way for these women to beat unemployment and become competitive in the labor market is to accept reduced wages - resulting in another negative cycle of low wages.

2. Working conditions and the demands of the recruiting workplace

Recruiting workplaces have a very low enrollment rate in social insurances, which can be used as a measure of working conditions. Only 31.6% of workplaces are enrolled in medical insurance, 30.2% in industrial accident insurance, 35.6% in employment insurance, and 31.2% in public pensions. Only a third of workplaces are enrolled in the social insurances.

Regarding working hours, 16.4% of the subjects in our survey demanded 9 hours or under a day. 48.5% indicated a preference for 9 to 10 hours a day, 25.1% 10 to 12 hours a day, and 9.8% indicated over 12 hours a day. Furthermore, many workplaces notify employees that on top of their formal hours, "overtime is sometimes necessary" - suggesting that real working hours are longer than those officially listed.

In terms of wage, 37.6% of workplaces wish to pay ￦600,000 per month. An interesting outcome from the survey was the clear difference of desired worker age in different occupational sectors. In general, employers wish to hire workers no younger than 23.5 years old and no older than 34.8 years old.

But looking at the situation according to each industry, of manufacturing workplaces 31.6% limit worker age to their 20s, 23.0% to their 30s, and 28.6% to their 40s. Of the retail industry, 44.4% of workplaces limit worker age to their 20s and 36.5% to their 30s. In the case of restaurants and lodging businesses, 67.6% limit worker age to their 40s.

In accordance with the nature of the work, the manufacturing workplace worker age limit is in the early 40s, but in sales is limited to the 20s by 35.7% and 30s by 30.0%, and in office work is limited to the 20s by 69.4%. The average upper age limit is 43.2 years for simple labor, 40.6 years for manufacturing, 33.3 years old for sales, 27.3 years old for office work, and 33.4 years old for others.

Aside from the age limit, 35.0% of the manufacturing industry, where could be manufacturing workers and office workers, and 90.3% of restaurants and lodging businesses do not require any particular educational background. 55.0% of manufacturing workplace and 77.5% of simple labor workplaces do not care about educational background.

3. Comparison between recruiting workplaces and job-seekers regarding age

The age requirement problem illustrates the gap between demand and reality. In terms of wage requirements, there not much difference, as workers have learned to lower their expectations with regard to wages. In other words, the wages they indicate are based not on their real needs but according to the reality.

Let's think about the age problem more deeply. The average age of the female job-seeker is 38.7 years old and the upper age limit of the recruiting workplace is 40.6 years old.

However, the average sought age is 32.2 years old - much younger than the average female job-seeker. For the sales field, the average age of the job-seeker is 37.9 years old but the average age sought by the recruiting workplace is 27.8 years old and its upper age limit is 33.3 years old.

The average age of the job-seeker in the simple labor field is 44.2 years old. The sought average age of the recruiting workplace is 36.2 years old and its upper age limit is 43.2 years old. For office workers, the average age of the job-seeker is 28.9 years old but the average age sought by the workplace is 24.0 years old and their upper age limit is 27.3 years old.

There were women who sought jobs unconditionally but they are not listed on Table 1. Their average age is 43.5 years old. It appears the chances of them managing to get back i to get back into the labor market are very slim indeed.

4. Conclusion

As we have seen, the most serious obstacle for middle-aged women on the road to finding employment is the age limit. Although some of them can find work, they are likely to receive very low wages, and will not be able to find a job relevant to their education or experience.

Overall economic conditions are improving but income inequality is increasing. The unemployment problem facing middle-aged women workers seriously needs to be addressed. The majority of these workers are not well-educated and lack skills. They are the weakest social group in Korea.

According to our counselors, female job-seekers over 35 years old have no choice but to seek work in simple labor - despite the fact that some have a university education and other qualifications.

The level of wages they are prepared to accept - much lower than their previous wages - illustrates their suffering. These are the people who have suffered most from the IMF economic crisis.

It is imperative for the government to make efforts to assist this vulnerable sector of workers.

In these difficult circumstances, the government must strengthen its supervising and management role in order to illuminate age and sex discrimination and must implement public education programs on these subjects.

It could also create more positions in public works for middle-aged women workers.

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Korea Working Women's Network 2000