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More and more people over 60 are finding temporary or contract work because many baby boomers have failed to prepare for their retirement.
The Korea Labor Institute last week said the number of temporary workers increased by 304,000 in March after dropping by 9,000 in February.
The number of temporary workers between 15 to 24 shrank by 24,000 and of those in their 40s by 51,000.
But among 50-somethings it grew by 22,000 and among 60-somethings by a whopping 117,000.
The number of temporary workers over 60 started rising steadily last August and soared by 113,000 in January and 91,000 in February.
S.Korean society is aging and many are ill-prepared for retirement. The institute said jobseekers over 60 do not look for work all the time but grab jobs whenever they become available. And people in this age group tend to get temporary jobs because it is difficult for them to find full-time positions after retirement.
Employees expect to retire at 51
According to a survey,salaried workers in S.Korea on average believe that they will be put to pasture at the age of 51, .
The findings reflect increasing fears of layoffs as more ailing businesses face painful restructuring.
Jobs search portal Job Korea polled 1,405 workers from May 26-31. Among men the average expected retirement age was 51.7, and among women 49.9, averaging 50.9 years.
In the same survey in March 2015, the average was a little higher at 52.1.
Workers in state-run companies gave the age of expected retirement at 54.8, while staff of small and mid-sized companies expected to retire at 50.8.
In conglomerates employees expected to retire at a mere 48.8 years of age.
Some 66 percent voiced fears of being laid off, and only 7.8 percent said they are definitely not afraid. Also, 73 percent of the respondents said they thought about switching to public service, which guarantees a job for life.
What retired people regret most
Many ostensibly comfortable retired people regret failing to save up more money and keep physically in shape so they can enjoy their twilight years to the full, a straw poll suggests.
The Samsung Life Insurance asked 93 retirees what they regret most.
Perhaps predictably since Samsung Life is an insurance company, the answers suggest retired people are sorry if they failed to put more money into pension packages.
Among the most frequently ticked answers were "I failed to save enough money for retirement" and "I have no lifelong hobby", each by about a dozen respondents.
A roughly equal number regretted not keeping their physical strength up.
Others regret not traveling enough or having no skills they could use to earn some pocket money in retirement.
Still others were sorry they did not spend enough time talking to their children or spouses, or failing to bring up their children as socially responsible people.
Many said there were a lot of expenses they had not factored into their retirement plans, such as gifts for children and family, medical expenses, and housing costs.
Many of the respondents were highly educated middle-class people, most with bachelor or higher degrees and spending more than W4 million (US$1=W1,097) per month on living costs.
(THE CHOSUNILBO)
