Hyundai Motor’s union is escalating strike action this week, in part over its demand to extend the retirement age. South Korea needs older people to work longer, but raising the retirement age without parallel wage and employment reform may suppress entry-level hiring at the large companies young Koreans most want to join.

Hyundai and its union failed to narrow their differences when formal talks resumed on Tuesday after a 41-day break. The union held four-hour partial strikes on Wednesday and Thursday and has called for an eight-hour strike on Friday — its first all-day walkout since 2016 — with