OVEREDUCATED WORK FORCE. Korea’s fast rags-to-richest development during the 70’s and 80’s created a large middle class. Koreans have always had a high regard for education, so it was only natural that parents wanted their sons and daughters to have college educations if they could afford it. More and more colleges and universities were opened, and the number of college graduates soared. Now the result is a “glut” of people who have college degrees while there are not enough professional jobs for them.

ECONOMIC FACTORS. As a result of Korea’s transition from export-driven
developing economy to a consumer-oriented advanced country, businesses were forced to restructure. In most case, this meant hiring fewer newcomers.

DISCRIMINATION BY EMPLOYERS. The notorious college entrance and
company entrance exams have created a ranking of educational institutions, from the “best” at the top to the “worst” at the bottom. Everyone knows exactly how a particular school ranks. Large employers prefer students who graduate from top-ranked universities, and most of them won’t even consider the applications of students from lower-ranked schools.

PREFERENCE FOR BIG-NAME COMPANIES. Most college graduates would
rather work for large, famous corporations than for medium-sized or smaller companies because they think that jobs with big corporations are more secure. So too many job seekers are competing for a small number of positions.

“GOOD” MAJOR, “BAD” MAJOR. Students who graduate from certain
departments have a better chance of finding a job rather than students who graduate with majors which are less in demand. Nowadays students majoring in engineering or computer science won’t have any trouble finding jobs. Also with the ongoing globalization drive, students who majored in certain languages considered rarer in Korea, such as Spanish, Chinese, Russian, or Vietnamese, are having no problems finding kjobs with large corporations who are
trying to enter big overseas markets.