Overview

• CEO Score data show the share of employees in their 20s at 67 top firms fell from 24.8% in 2022 to 21% in 2024, with headcount down by 47,498.
• More than half of surveyed companies reduced their young staff numbers while the count of employees aged 30 and older rose by roughly 35,000.
• Samsung Display led the decline with its proportion of 20-something workers plunging from 43.8% to 28.4% over two years, followed by steep drops at SK On, LG Innotek and Samsung SDI.
• Samsung Electronics and SK hynix saw their young employee ratios dip to 24.2% and 20.8%, respectively, even as Hyundai Motor and LG Electronics recorded slight increases.
• Firms are moving away from mass graduate recruitment toward rolling hiring for experienced workers, prompting worries about an aging workforce and fewer entry-level roles.