Coyner’s Comment:
Rarely do I take two articles on the same day from the same newspaper, much less the same page, but these two articles really illustrate a fundamental problem in South Korea.
We may call it academic inflation, but really this problem is the result of a prosperous, overly competitive Confucian society that traditionally looks down on all blue-collar labor and accords the highest respect to only a very few, traditional professions. For the pellmell, the next best and face-saving option is to get some kind of decent white collar job.
As such, even when government and business leaders properly assess the problem and attempt to make corrective changes, Korean families’ competing ambitions for their offspring sabotage the otherwise praise-worthy initiatives. And when one looks at the number of intended high school grad hires, we see relatively small figures, bordering on tokenism – no matter what maybe regarded as the virtues of high school graduate employees. And, of course, once hired, many, if not most, of these high school grads plan to continue their education to the university graduate level.
The fact remains that constant social pressures make the youth clamor for white collar jobs with bachelors degree or better credentials – so much so, it is extremely difficult for a young person to get the first “real” job with career growth potential. But within two or three years of being hired and learning for the first time practical job skills, these same, once desperate people are quick to jump to another employer.
In short, all around it’s a lose-lose scenario for high school grads, university grads, employers and even the newly hired – although it may take a few or more years for the last group to realize the full folly of their ways.
Academic inflation bedevils Korea
Yonhap
Korea JoongAng Daily
July 25, 2011
Big firms, banks hire more high school grads
Partly it’s to follow gov’t push, but companies also praise applicants for brightness, loyalty
By Lee Eun-joo
Korea JoongAng Daily
July 25, 2011