RECRUITMENT PLANS POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19

[Anchor Lead]

It's the time of year when job seekers are usually busy preparing for employment, attending job fairs and taking related exams. However due to coronavirus fears, businesses are delaying their recruitment plans and scheduled tests are being canceled. The situation is making job seekers all the more nervous.

[Pkg]

Lights off and empty. Here a library at a university in Seoul is closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. There are not many students even at facilities that are open in a different building, with less than a third of seats being occupied. Normally, libraries and study rooms would be packed with students this time of the year as they prepare for the recruitment season. College graduates or students in their second year of preparations to land a job are also affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

[Soundbite] (JOB SEEKER) : "With the virus spreading, we have no information on when employment schedules will resume and how many companies will be hiring. That's the most difficult part."

Various language and qualification exams such as TOEIC have been called off. Without these merits, job seekers are worried they won't even qualify for the initial document screening process. There's no guarantee of when the situation will get better, but students should continue their hard work nonetheless.

[Soundbite] (JOB SEEKER) : "Without relevant studies and preparations in advance, the odds are greater I may not make the cut. So I'm continuing preparations as usual."

Those who are preparing to take their civil service examination are also confused by the continuous postponements of tests.

[Soundbite] LEE SU-BIN(PREPARING TO BECOME CIVIL SERVANT) : "Many students planned to prepare for employment once returning to school. But now both of those things are in doubt."

The mental anxiety a person goes through when looking for a job is already difficult to bear, but with the COVID-19 outbreak destabilizing hiring prospects and schedules, job seekers are suffering even more.

[Soundbite] JEONG WUK-JIN & MOON JAE-GWON(PREPARING TO JOIN POLICE) : "At least a notice on the test date would be great so we can plan accordingly. (We thought the date was close but now it's up in the air.)"

Nine out of 10 large firms in Korea have pushed back their recruitment schedules or are reviewing to do so.