A job seeker fills out a résumé at a job fair for middle-aged workers held at Guro District Office in Seoul on June 16.YONHAP
Seo Jeong-bae, a 65-year-old who lives in Dong District, Daegu, has been working as a water source protection area inspector for the district office since March. Last year, he also spent five months managing a park golf course.
After retiring in 2018 following a 33-year career as a civilian military employee, Seo earned a social worker's license and interviewed with dozens of organizations in hopes of returning to work in the field. He was rejected every time. He also tried security and cleaning jobs, but neither suited him.
"Interviewers often told me there were too many younger applicants for social welfare positions, making it difficult to hire older people," Seo said. "It's disappointing, but I plan to keep taking any short-term job opportunities that come along. My goal is to keep working until I'm 70."
Korea is entering what some describe as the era of the new "Homo laborans" — people who continue working throughout their lives — as life expectancy increases.
The number of older adults who are both willing and capable of working has risen sharply, particularly among what some term "young and smart" older adults.
Middle-aged job seekers look at a job information board at an employment support center in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Feb. 19, 2025.NEWS1
Lim Hong-yeol, a 61-year-old who formerly worked as an automotive researcher at a conglomerate, said finding another job that matches his experience has also proved difficult.
"During interviews with small- and medium-sized automotive companies, I was often told that my background at a large corporation made them uncomfortable," Lim said. "I even took a contract job at a game company that had nothing to do with my career. But considering job stability and my aptitude, I think I'd rather stay in the automotive industry, so I'm studying autonomous driving technologies."
The number of employed people aged 55 to 79 surpassed 10 million for the first time this year, according to a Ministry of Data and Statistics's survey on older adults Wednesday.
As of May, 10.13 million people in that age group were employed, up 345,000 from a year earlier.
Although the average retirement age from a primary career is 53, 69.2 percent of older adults — about 11.78 million people — on average said they hoped to continue working until the age of 73.6.
Older adults fill out applications for public-interest and skills-based senior employment programs at a senior job fair held at the Mapo District Office in western Seoul on Dec. 10, 2025.NEWS1
Highly skilled baby boomers seek second careers
Today's older generation is more highly educated than their predecessors.
NAM JUNG-HYUN
A total of 26.2 percent of the 7.05 million first-wave baby boomers, born between 1955 and 1963, hold at least a bachelor's degree, more than twice the share of the previous generation, according to the Korea Employment Information Service.
Once the country's 9.54 million "second-wave baby boomers," born between 1964 and 1974, also enter old age, these highly educated and experienced older adults are expected to make up about one third of the population.
Their willingness to remain economically active is also growing. The labor force participation rate among people aged 65 to 79 rose from 36.3 percent in 2005 to 48.9 percent this year, up 12.6 percentage points. Among those aged 55 to 64, the rate climbed from 62.3 percent to 73.1 percent over the same period.
Despite this trend, quality jobs that make use of older workers' skills and expertise remain scarce.
An analysis of employment administration data by the JoongAng Ilbo found that only 210,000 of the 570,000 people in their 60s who registered as job seekers through the government's job site Employment 24 during the first half of this year successfully found work.
About half found jobs in caregiving, accounting for 25.2 percent, or cleaning, accounting for 21.1 percent, followed by security services at 10.7 percent.
The Data Ministry statistics also show that 33 percent of employed people aged 65 and older, or about 4.12 million workers, were engaged in simple manual labor as of May.
NAM JUNG-HYUN
Middle-aged and older job seekers look at job postings during a job fair in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 29.NEWS1
Turning to part-time jobs
With quality re-employment opportunities in short supply, more older adults are turning to part-time jobs after leaving their primary careers.
People aged 50 and older accounted for 9.3 percent of all part-time job applicants between January and May this year, more than four times the 2.2 percent recorded in 2017, according to an analysis of application data from part-time job platform Alba Cheonguk over the past decade.
Once workers leave their primary careers, however, the value of their accumulated experience often drops sharply, along with their wages.
The share of first-wave baby boomers in regular employment fell from 55.2 percent in their early 60s to 45 percent after their late 60s, according to a report published in June by the National Assembly Futures Institute.
While 27.8 percent of regular employees earned at least 3 million won ($2,120) a month, only 9.2 percent of temporary and daily workers did so, and most earned less than 1 million won per month.
Job seekers submit applications at an employment support center in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Aug. 5.YONHAP
Better support needed for re-employment
Experts say systematic preparation for re-employment has become one of the most important factors determining quality of life in old age.
Ha Yoon-su, a 64-year-old who retired from security company S-1, a Samsung affiliate, in 2022 after 38 years, initially submitted résumés to 20 employers without preparation and lost confidence after repeatedly failing to pass document screening.
After completing internships through a middle-aged employment support center, however, he found work at a social enterprise the following year. He now also teaches the mandatory training course for new private security guards.
Nearly half of all people who found jobs through the country's 40 middle-aged employment support centers last year were aged 60 or older.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to expand the centers into one-on-one career development centers to reduce job mismatches among middle-aged and older workers.
It also plans to broaden the requirement for companies to provide re-employment support services. The mandate, which currently applies to businesses with at least 1,000 employees, will be extended to those with at least 500 employees next year and to businesses with at least 300 employees by 2029.
Experts say making better use of experienced middle-aged and older workers will become increasingly important as the working-age population continues to shrink.
"There is a limit to simply increasing employment figures through short-term, low-paying public jobs," said Yoon Dong-yeol, a professor of business administration at Konkuk University. "To turn older workers' accumulated experience and skills into higher productivity, we need a system that manages their careers and preferred occupations more systematically.”
“Companies should also be given greater flexibility to utilize experienced workers through measures such as extending the retirement age or rehiring employees after retirement."
BY KIM KYUNG-HEE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]
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.
