AI adoption linked to job losses among South Korean young professionals
Employment in professional services and IT sectors in South Korea fell significantly in February 2026, with the largest losses concentrated among workers aged 20-39. The decline, the steepest since 2013, reportedly reflects both economic contraction and the spread of generative AI tools that displace junior-level work.
What happened
Professional services and IT sector employment fell by approximately 147,000 workers year-on-year as of February 2026, the largest decline since 2013 and the first drop since 2021. The professional, scientific and technical services sector lost 105,000 jobs and the information technology sector lost 42,000 jobs.
Workers aged 20–39 accounted for 89% of total job losses despite representing 51.7% of the workforce in these sectors one year prior. Twenty-year-olds saw the steepest drops, with 97,000 job losses, followed by 30-year-olds with 34,000 losses, while workers aged 40 and over experienced smaller declines or gains.
Reported impact
The Bank of Korea's October 2025 report 'AI Diffusion and Youth Employment Decline' documented that in the three years following ChatGPT's release (July 2022–July 2025), youth employment (aged 15–29) fell across multiple sectors including computer programming and systems integration (-11.2%), publishing (-20.4%), professional services (-8.8%), and information services (-23.8%).
Observers attributed the concentrated job losses among junior professionals to generative AI adoption replacing entry-level work such as basic coding, research, and draft writing.
Index analysis
The job losses occurred amid broader economic contraction and reduced hiring of new entrants, with a shift in workforce composition toward older workers in the affected sectors.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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