Half a Million People of Prime Working Age Lose Jobs

Half a million workers in their 40s and 50s were laid off last year, a historic high.

Analysis of Statistics Korea data shows that 489,000 people in the prime of their working life were forced to quit their jobs last year, up more than 20,000 from the previous year and the most since 2014.

They lost their jobs due to company closures, layoffs or early retirement, termination of temporary contracts or business downturn.

The number of people who became unemployed for these reasons stood at 187,000 among workers in their 40s and over 300,000 among those in their 50s, up 10,000 and 20,000 from the year earlier.

But overall the number of people who lost their jobs involuntarily shrank by 28,000 to 1.44 million, meaning people in their 40s and 50s constituted the bulk of such layoffs.

Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Choo Kyung-ho said "People in their 40s and 50s, who constitute the backbone of our workforce, are facing the worst-ever employment conditions, but the government is only interested in creating temporary jobs for senior citizens at taxpayers' expense."