Unemployment among PhD holders in South Korea reaches record high

By Minh Nga March 2, 2025 | 11:09 pm PT

PhD students at Seoul National University. Photo courtesy of Seoul National University Fanpage

For every 10 South Koreans earning a PhD last year, three are unemployed, with the rate nearly reaching 50% for those under 30, according to government data.

A study by Statistics Korea, released on Sunday, revealed that 29.6% of the 10,442 individuals who earned doctoral degrees last year were unemployed. This marks the highest unemployment rate for PhD holders since the country began collecting related data in 2014, according to KBS World.

The study found that 26.6% of those without jobs were actively seeking employment, while 3% were classified as economically inactive. The combined unemployment rate, which includes both job seekers and the economically inactive, remained in the mid-20% range from 2014 to 2018 but surged to 29.3% in 2019, reaching a record high of 29.6% last year.

By age group, the unemployment rate for PhD holders under 30 reached 47.7% - the highest recorded rate in the history of the survey.

The unemployment rate also varies by field of study, with arts and humanities graduates facing the highest rate at 40.1%. This is followed by natural sciences, mathematics, and statistics at 37.7%, and social sciences, journalism, and information studies at 33.1%, the Korea Times reported.

Fields such as healthcare, welfare, education, business administration, and law have relatively low unemployment rates.

This trend highlights the lack of high-quality, high-paying jobs available even to individuals with advanced education.

South Korea's job market has weakened due to increased economic instability, leading companies to prioritize hiring experienced workers over job seekers.