Competition for a Limited Number of Seats

The severity of South Korea’s job market has long been a well-known issue. There was already a news article back in 2009 about a doctoral candidate applying to become a sanitation worker. The situation has only worsened since then, and it is not uncommon for graduates of prestigious universities to struggle to land a decent job.

Many people argue that the job shortage is due to an economic downturn and that things will improve once the economy recovers. However, the real reason for the shortage likely lies in the fact that the number of desirable jobs is simply too small to begin with. The pie to be shared is limited, yet everyone rushes toward it at once — fierce competition is an inevitable result. The problem cannot be solved without growing the pie. (From Startup Bible.)

Iceland is well known for its average graduate salary of around 9 million KRW per month. Looking into why, Iceland has a population of 400,000 — 125 times smaller than South Korea’s — yet it is home to five companies with a market capitalization exceeding 1 trillion KRW. It seems natural that wage levels would be high when there are many powerful companies underpinning the economy. By simple arithmetic, if South Korea were to produce 300 more companies with a market cap above 1 trillion KRW, it would reach a ratio similar to Iceland’s.

The number of unicorn companies in South Korea has yet to surpass 30. There is a clear need for more strong, high-growth companies to emerge.