Almost half of newly hired staff with university degrees in small and mid-sized businesses quit before their first year is up, according to a survey. The Korea Employers Federation surveyed 392 businesses across the country and found that 48 percent of new hires with university degrees at SMEs quit during their first year on the job.

This contrasts with the much lower resignation rate of 14.3 percent among university graduates hired by big conglomerates.

The biggest reason for quitting cited by 46.7 percent of new hires at SMEs was discontent over pay and working conditions, followed by failure to adjust to the working environment and job parameters (42.9 percent).

In big companies, the main reason for quitting was that new hires wanted to prepare for the civil service exam or pursue higher degrees (40.6 percent), which shows that more and more young Koreans long for the perceived safety of government jobs.

"Businesses spend the most money on training new hires during the first year on the job," a KEF spokesman said. "So the high resignation rate among new recruits with university degrees demonstrates just how much this trend is costing society."