More PhD holders than jobs?

The number of people who received Ph.D.s from local universities last year exceeded 10,000 for the first time.

Analysts in Korea say that a growing number of highly educated individuals are vying for limited well-paying office jobs, adding the deepening "academic inflation" is further aggravating the already dire employment conditions among those in their late 20s and 30s.

The number of Koreans receiving Ph.D.s from domestic universities in 2009 totaled 10,322, up from 9,710 the previous year.

In 2009, Korean universities offered a combined 19,847 doctoral positions, up sharply from 13,052 in 2000.The number of Ph.D. holders per every 10,000 Koreans rose to 2.1 last year, from 0.3 in 1985 and 1.5 in 2000.

An increasing number of people have entered graduate schools, with businesses seeking more highly-educated human resources specializing in engineering, medical and other academic fields. But at the same time, many have chosen to study further because they cannot find the job they are looking for amid the tight labor market, creating academic inflation," said Kim Sung-taek, director general at the Korea Labor Institute. "The surging number of academic overachievers is a failure of the nation's education system and is worsening the labor market conditions, creating an employment mismatch."

He said these highly educated Koreans are only looking for "decent" jobs at large companies and public organizations, while shunning positions at small businesses, which offer lower wages and fewer benefits. Small enterprises suffer from a chronic worker shortage and have to employ staff from China and Southeast Asian nations."Many academic overachievers choose to remain unemployed rather than work for small firms, obstructing the efficient allocation of human resources in the Korean economy. This trend has made unemployment among young people worse than it should be," Kim stressed.In February, the jobless rate for those aged between 15 and 29 reached 10 percent, up from 9.3 percent in January. It was the highest figure since it hit 10.1 percent in February 2000. This is more than twice the overall official unemployment rate of 4.9 percent.

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Ph.D. Holders Surpass 10,000 in Korea
Lee Hyo-sik (leehs@koreatimes.co.kr )
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2010/03/123_62589.html