Waitlist grew from 114,267 in 2021 to 162,914 in 2025; demand satisfaction rate limited to 46%

The government has pledged to expand senior employment positions to about 1.15 million this year and further to about 1.18 million next year, yet the number of seniors waiting for a job placement continues to climb.

According to national audit data submitted to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Nam In-soon of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee by the Korea Senior Human Resources Development Institute, the total number of seniors who applied for but could not participate in government-supported jobs over the past five years (2021–2025) reached 616,492. The waitlist grew from 114,267 in 2021 to 162,914 in 2025, a 42.57 percent increase.

Last year's waitlist rate stood at 13.44 percent, the highest in the past five years. Competition was fiercest in the skills-utilization category, where the waitlist rate reached 28.85 percent, followed by community business programs at 13.98 percent and public-service activities at 8.84 percent.

This year's target for senior job creation is about 1.152 million positions, but approximately 2.503 million seniors have expressed a desire to participate, leaving the demand satisfaction rate at just 46 percent — below the 46.1 percent recorded in 2024 and 46.4 percent in 2025.

With fewer than half of seniors seeking work being accommodated, the demand satisfaction rate has also fallen to its lowest level in three years.

"South Korea's elderly poverty rate stands at 39.7 percent, the highest among OECD member countries, yet more than 160,000 seniors who applied for jobs last year alone were left on a waiting list," Nam said. "We must expand the budget and scale of senior employment programs so that older Koreans can supplement their inadequate retirement income and have greater opportunities for social participation."

Nam added that the government should particularly increase the number of skills-utilization positions, where competition is most intense, so that seniors can put their accumulated experience and expertise to use. "We must raise both the quantity and quality of senior jobs so that they can support a healthy and active retirement," she said.


thlee@heraldcorp.com