Seven out of 10 taxi drivers in South Korea are between the ages of 60 and 70, according to figures released by the National Joint Conference of the Korea Private Taxi Association.
South Korea is indeed a rapidly aging country, but this time, there’s a special factor behind these unbelievable numbers: the “exodus” of young drivers.
Taxis with the typical orange color in Seoul.
Young driver “gives up”
As the pandemic broke out, young drivers left passenger jobs to find work in delivery and courier services. Now taxi drivers are mainly elderly, who are often more afraid to drive at night, leading to a shortage of taxis at this time of day.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on October 4, “Demand for taxis increased sharply after social distancing measures were lifted left the delivery and courier industry to make more money“.
Ji Min-soo, a veteran taxi driver with 12 years of experience and living in Seoul, said he can sympathize with young taxi drivers leaving the industry.
“The number of customers dropped dramatically during (pre-pandemic). We barely made any money at the time.… But on delivery you can get immediate results – no like a taxi. You can earn as much as you want” Ji, 51, told The Korea Times.
Young taxi drivers in droves quit their jobs, leaving jobs to older colleagues.
For drivers in their 30s and 40s, the income earned as a taxi driver is not enough to support their families and send their children to school. Drivers earn an average of 130,000 to 150,000 won a day, according to an employee who works for a taxi company based in Seoul.
MP Ku Ja-keun from the National Power Party also revealed data on Tuesday, October 11 that taxi drivers earn only a third of that of people working for delivery and courier services in 2020.
“The situation is very different for drivers in their 60s and 70s. There is no workplace where elderly people can earn more than 1 million won (about 16.7 million VND)/month other than driving a taxi“, Ji added.
Lee Jeong-wook, 37, a taxi driver living in Seoul, said he also considered leaving his job when he returned home almost empty-handed despite working hard.
“I worked 14 hours yesterday and I only made 200,000 won (3.3 million VND). I was around in an empty taxi for 3 hours. A driver’s profit usually accounts for 55% of his income. So, yesterday I made 7,800 won an hour, which is even below the minimum wage” said Lee.
However, long working hours and low income are not the only reasons why taxi drivers leave the profession.
“A lot of aggressive customers. Taxi drivers are more despised than you think. I had a rude customer ask me if I graduated from college, and why would a young person like me drive a taxi to earn a living” Lee added.
Doubts about the measures
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong talks about the ministry’s measures to tackle late-night taxi shortages during a briefing held at the Government Complex Seoul, October 4.
In an effort to encourage drivers to return and increase the availability of late-night taxis, the Korean government introduced a series of measures on October 4, namely increasing night taxi fares from the current 3,000 won (50,000 VND) to 5,000 won (83,500 VND) for taxis from franchised platform operators like Kakao and 4,000 won (67,000 VND) for regular taxis called through an agent agency.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government also announced an increase in the basic taxi fare from 3,800 won (VND 63,500) to 4,800 won (VND 80,000) and extended the current deadline for late-night fares by another 2 hours, from 10 p.m – instead of 12 am – to 4 am.
But taxi drivers remain skeptical whether these measures will re-engage those who have left the profession.
“The increase in taxi fares has no impact on drivers like us. It’s all in the hands of platforms like Kakao. Those platforms won’t allow us to receive call rates even though the government says now they will allow drivers to receive some call charges.
Furthermore, measures such as raising the base price will not bring the old drivers back because they only earn more for the platforms and taxi companies, not the drivers” – a taxi driver named Kang, 41 age, said.
Source: Korea Times
Source: Vietnam Insider