South Korea: Workers Over 65 Are Over 11 Percent of Workforce

According to published reports, workers aged 65 or above accounted for 11.2% of South Korea's total workforce in 2007, up from 10.8% in 2006 and 5.9% in 1985. The National Statistical Office (NSO) reports that the number of senior workers reached 1.52 million in 2007--up 75.1% percent from 869,000 in 1997--as the number of Koreans aged over 65 increased by 66% percent to 4.87 million in 2007 from 1997.

Local companies increasingly prefer to hire workers on an irregular and temporary basis with little job security and lower wages to meet their manpower demand. Older workers who have already retired from previous jobs are willing to accept the lower-paying jobs.

Source: The Korea Times "Senior Workers Account for 11% of Total Workforce" (February 10, 2008)