待翻译：South Korea youth employment falls sharply in AI-exposed industries, BOK says

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Published August 18, 2026 - 7:26 p.m. An employment support center in a college in Seoul on April 20 YONHAP A total of 94 percent of the jobs lost among young people over the past four years were in industries highly exposed to AI, according to findings from the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Tuesday. The decline in youth employment was particularly pronounced in the information services, publishing and computer programming sectors, while employment among people in their 50s actually increased in the same industries. The number of jobs held by young people aged 15 to 29 fell by 285,000 between June 2022 and June this year, the BOK report said. Of the total decline, 268,000 jobs, or 94 percent, were lost in industries with high AI exposure. Related Article AI-exposed sectors see sharp decline in youth employment: BOK report Former BOK chief warns chip boom cannot simply reverse Korea’s low-growth trend BOK holds $250M in U.S. gold ETF, first gold investment in 13 years By industry, the number of young workers in information services fell the most, by 31.4 percent. Publishing followed with a 27.4 percent decline, computer programming, systems integration and management with a 16.6 percent drop, and professional services with an 11.6 percent decrease. By contrast, employment among people in their 50s increased by 230,000 over the same period. Of those additional jobs, 173,000, or 75.2 percent, were in industries with high AI exposure. AI is taking a particularly heavy toll on young workers as it begins to replace routine, entry-level tasks, the central bank said. “Senior-level work often involves specialized tasks that require an understanding of an organization’s characteristics and context, which makes it harder for AI to replace,” Oh Sam-il, head of the BOK’s Labor Market Research Team, said. The way AI is used also appears to affect youth employment. Industries that relied more on AI to automate tasks saw sharper declines in youth employment. The pattern was less evident in industries that used AI to support workers with tasks such as drafting and verification. “AI primarily performs tasks that are laid out in manuals, which means it can replace younger workers," Oh added. A brochure advertising AI education is placed at a college in Seoul on Aug. 18. NEWS1 “The impact on employment varies depending on how the technology is used,” Oh said. Unemployment also rose sharply among highly educated young people. The average unemployment rate for young four-year college graduates has stood at 7 percent since November 2022, compared with 5.4 percent for those with a two-year college degree or less, according to a BOK analysis that used education levels as a proxy for AI exposure. Before the launch of ChatGPT, from January 2019 through October 2022, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent among four-year college graduates and 8 percent among those with a two-year college degree or less. The analysis also found that more young workers were leaving their jobs. In industries with high AI exposure, the average monthly outflow of young workers rose about 32 percent — from 3,700 between January 2016 and December 2019 to 4,900 between July 2022 and June this year. The calculation excluded the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The average monthly inflow fell about 11 percent, from 32,600 to 29,100 over the same period. Job seekers search available positions at a recruitment exposition held in Busan on Sept. 4, 2025. YONHAP Yet the BOK cautioned that the recent weakness in youth employment could not be attributed to AI alone. Post-pandemic changes in industry employment, a shift toward experienced hires and the spread of remote work could all help explain the decline in youth employment. The shift toward AI could also create new jobs and demand for workers as companies rethink how work is organized, the BOK said. Rather than focusing policy efforts on preserving existing entry-level jobs as they are, the central bank recommended shifting toward building new “career ladders” that allow young people to gain experience and develop skills while working with AI. “Young people are highly capable of using AI and adapting to new technologies, so they also have significant potential to become major beneficiaries over the long term if AI is used in ways that complement learning and job performance,” the report said. BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]] This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.