South Korea’s central bank says AI is adding to the pressure on young people trying to enter stable work, as companies increasingly favour experienced hires. Its report points to a widening gap between economic growth and the quality of jobs available to younger workers.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
The Bank of Korea examined employment trends among people aged 15 to 29. The Korea JoongAng Daily reports that the bank found the share of young workers moving from temporary or day work into regular jobs fell from the 8% range in 2014–19 to the 5% range in 2023–24.
The bank says the spread of generative AI since late 2022 has strengthened employers’ preference for experienced workers, while AI takes on some entry-level and basic tasks. It identifies finance and insurance, professional and technical services, and information and communications as particularly exposed sectors.
Why it matters
The finding is not simply that AI might remove jobs. It suggests that fewer entry-level tasks could make it harder for young people to get the experience employers want, while those already in insecure work face a tougher move into stable employment. The bank calls this a “secondary labour market lock-in effect”.
The report also argues that South Korea’s semiconductor-led growth is not automatically creating more regular jobs for young people. Strong exports can lift output without opening an obvious first rung on the employment ladder.
Our read
The uncomfortable question is whether AI is changing not just the number of jobs, but how people get their first foothold in a career. The bank’s figures make that worth watching, though they describe South Korea’s labour market and do not establish that AI alone caused the shift.
The bank proposes spreading the employment benefits of IT manufacturing, strengthening links between education and industry, and making employment rules more flexible. Those are substantial policy choices, not a quick patch for a missing entry-level role.
What to watch
- Whether regular hiring recovers for young workers in the sectors the bank identifies.
- Whether employers can show how AI is changing entry-level tasks and recruitment.
- Whether the bank’s proposed education, industrial and labour-market reforms are taken up.
Discussion spark: If AI removes some of the basic tasks that help people gain experience, should employers be expected to create new entry-level routes, or should education and training adapt instead?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (26 October 2026, 11:21 UTC)
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