The number of employed people in their 20s averaged 3.279 million from January through August, down 193,000, or 5.6%, from a year earlier, according to the National Statistical Portal (KOSIS). The decline was the largest since 1998, when employment fell by 550,000 during the Asian financial crisis, and exceeded the reductions recorded in 2009 and 2020. The employment rate for people in their 20s fell 1.3 percentage points to 59.1%, dropping below 60% for the first time since 2021. The population of the age group declined 3.5%, but employment fell faster. Among people aged 25 to 29, the employment rate declined 0.8 percentage point to 71.1%, the lowest since 2021. Artificial intelligence has reduced new hiring, while companies favor experienced workers and the recovery has concentrated in low-job-creation industries such as semiconductors. Professor Yang Joon-seok of Catholic University said competition for positions at large corporations is delaying young people’s entry into the workforce and called for industrial restructuring, regulatory reforms and action on labor-market rigidities.