In a dwindling job market, the relative security of the teaching profession is increasingly attractive to Korean workers, a survey suggests. The jobhunting website Scout ( www.scout.co.kr ) said Sunday in a poll of 1,483 workers, teaching received the highest percentage of votes, or 23.4 percent, in response to the question, "What would you prefer to do if you were to switch jobs?"
In the same survey in 2002 of 1,647 workers, professions like medical doctor and lawyer had topped the list with 26.2 percent, with teaching way behind in fifth place with 13.1 percent.
Of the women, 35 percent chose teaching, followed by the civil service with 30.3 percent. A job in a large company was third with 14.2 percent of the votes, and the professions came fourth with 10.1 percent. Three years ago, civil servant was the most popular job with 26.9 percent, and teacher came second with 21.2 percent.
Among men, the biggest group still wanted to be professionals, or 24.5 percent, and the next largest group wanted to be entrepreneurs with 22.8 percent. Some 18.5 percent wanted to be work in large companies, and 17.4 percent said they wanted to be civil servants. Teacher came last with 14 percent but gained massively in popularity compared to three years ago, when it received only 5.6 percent of the votes.
Scout CEO Kim Hyun-seop said the number of jobseekers and employees quitting their jobs to prepare for the teachers' license exam was increasing with growing unemployment and apprehension over early retirement.