"Let's Revive Youth and Low-Income Jobs"… Ministry of Employment to Invest 1.3 Trillion KRW in COVID-19 Supplementary Budget

Asia Economy DB=Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] A support fund worth 100 billion KRW will be prepared for regions affected by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The budget for this year's Job Stability Fund for low-income workers will be expanded to 600 billion KRW, and the budget for the Youth Additional Employment Incentive will be increased to nearly 500 billion KRW.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 4th that it has prepared a supplementary budget of 1.323 trillion KRW to respond to COVID-19.

First, a new "COVID-19 Regional Employment Response Special Support Project" with a budget of 100 billion KRW will be established. Local governments can design job projects reflecting regional characteristics, and after approval from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the budget will be supported.

Each metropolitan local government will prepare corporate support and employment stability measures targeting industries (companies), workers, and job seekers affected by COVID-19, and the budget will be provided accordingly.

For two severely affected areas, 20 billion KRW each will be allocated, and the remaining 60 billion KRW will be distributed differentially to general affected areas based on the degree of damage.

The Job Stability Fund is expected to add 596.2 billion KRW to the original budget of 2.1647 trillion KRW this year. Wage subsidies will be expanded for small businesses that continue to employ low-wage workers for four months. The Job Stability Fund support will increase by 70,000 KRW per person, from 90,000?110,000 KRW per month to 160,000?180,000 KRW.

To reduce the social insurance burden on businesses with fewer than 10 employees, the scope of social insurance support will also be expanded. With an additional 59.6 billion KRW from the supplementary budget, the number of supported people will increase by 30,000 from 2.74 million to 2.77 million.

While expanding the number of people supported by the Employment Success Package, the previously abolished "Job-Seeking Promotion Allowance" will be temporarily reintroduced.

Support for the Employment Success Package will be expanded for low-income groups and youth whose employment conditions have worsened due to COVID-19. The supplementary budget includes 79.7 billion KRW for this. Through this, the number of supported low-income individuals will increase from 50,000 to 70,000, and youth from 50,000 to 80,000, totaling 150,000 people.

In particular, for low-income groups, the Job-Seeking Promotion Allowance, which was abolished on the premise of implementing the National Employment Support System, will be temporarily reintroduced to help stable job-seeking activities. The Job-Seeking Promotion Allowance provides up to 500,000 KRW per month for a maximum of three months during the third stage of the Employment Success Package.

The Youth Additional Employment Incentive will be expanded by 487.4 billion KRW through the supplementary budget to support the target of 290,000 people this year without disruption. If the supplementary budget submitted by the government to the National Assembly is approved as is, the total budget will increase to 1.4793 trillion KRW.

The Youth Additional Employment Incentive system provides up to 9 million KRW per year per youth hired as a regular employee by small and medium-sized enterprises with five or more employees, totaling 27 million KRW over three years.

An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor stated, "As the incentive has been established in the field, the employment retention period of youth has increased more than initially expected, raising the required payment amount per person," adding, "An increase is necessary for stable operation."

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