One in Four New Hires at Innovation City Relocation Agencies Is a 'Local Talent'

▲ Major Status of Innovation Cities (Provided by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The regional talent recruitment rate of 109 public institutions relocated to local innovation cities reached 26% last year, according to a recent survey.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 19th that the living conditions in innovation cities significantly improved last year through the 'Innovation City Season 2' policy, which has been promoted since 2018 to strengthen innovation cities.

Last year, the total number of new hires at public institutions relocated under the Innovation City Act was 5,886. Among them, 1,527, or 25.9%, were recruited from local students of the relocation areas. This performance greatly exceeded the initial target of 21%.

By region, Busan, which has the largest pool of local talent and favorable conditions, had the highest recruitment rate at 35.7%. Ulsan (27.2%) and Daegu-Gyeongbuk (26.9%) followed. By institution, 60 out of the 109 institutions achieved their targets. Two institutions had no new hires, and 47 institutions were not subject to mandatory local talent recruitment under the Innovation City Act.

The Ministry plans to promote metropolitan integration for Gwangju-Honam and Ulsan-Gyeongnam following the metropolitan integration of Daejeon-Chungcheong scheduled for May, enabling more students to benefit from the mandatory local talent recruitment system.

The resident population in innovation cities also increased significantly. Last year, the registered population in innovation cities reached 204,716, an increase of 12,177 compared to the end of 2018, surpassing 200,000 for the first time. This accounts for 76.4% of the planned population of 267,000.

Innovation cities were also found to be young cities. The average age in innovation cities was 33.5 years, much younger than the national average of 42.6 years. Notably, the population aged 9 and under accounted for 17.7%, double the national average of 8.3%. The rate of family relocation among employees of relocated public institutions also steadily increased, reaching 64.4% last year, up 2.5 percentage points from the previous year.

The supply of residential facilities also improved. Last year, 3,090 apartment units were supplied in innovation cities, bringing the cumulative supply to 77,460 units. This is 87.1% of the total planned 88,927 units. Additionally, 99% of the supplied units were for sale. Public facilities such as community centers, police stations, and fire stations were also supplied at 24 locations, 80% of the planned amount.

Last year, 732 new companies moved into innovation cities, bringing the total number of resident companies to 1,425, nearly doubling from 693 at the end of the previous year. However, 84.3% of these companies relocated from outside the metropolitan area, and small-scale companies with fewer than 30 employees accounted for 1,333 companies (93.5%). Meanwhile, companies relocated from the metropolitan area numbered 224 (15.7%), with small-scale companies (under 30 employees) also making up the majority at 1,333 companies (93.5%).

To address these issues, the Ministry plans to establish a 'Strategy to Make Innovation Cities Regional Economic Hubs.' This includes revitalizing innovation city clusters, expanding incentives for resident companies, improving living conditions, and building an industry-academia-research cooperation ecosystem.

Juhyun Jong, Deputy Director of the Innovation City Development Promotion Team at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Thanks to the efforts of the government, local governments, and public institutions over the past year, there have been notable achievements such as expanded local talent recruitment, increased resident population, and growth in resident companies. This year, we will accelerate Innovation City Season 2 to make innovation cities genuine regional economic hubs where companies and people gather, and jobs and investments abound."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.