Employment Market Hit Hard by COVID-19 Bombshell... "Situation Will Get Tougher"

Government to Announce 'Employment Stability Policy Response Package' Early Next Week

New Employment in March Declines for the First Time in About 11 Months

On the 10th, unemployment benefit applicants are receiving explanations from officials at the Unemployment Benefit Briefing Session held at the Western Employment Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The government will announce the 'Employment Stability Policy Response Package' early next week. Initially, the focus was on 'employment retention' measures, but as the employment situation reached shock levels, a comprehensive plan including unemployment measures and new job creation was decided upon. The number of new jobs in March this year decreased for the first time in 10 years and 10 months, reflecting the reality of an unemployment crisis caused by the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). There is a high possibility that the job situation will worsen further in April, leading to the judgment that 'extraordinary measures are necessary.'

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki chaired the 'Ministerial Meeting (Green Room Meeting)' at the Government Seoul Office on the morning of the 17th and stated, "To overcome the employment shock caused by COVID-19, we plan to finalize and announce the employment stability policy response package, which has been prepared through close consultation among related ministries, early next week."

The package is expected to include ▲ employment retention ▲ unemployment ▲ emergency jobs and new job creation ▲ livelihood stabilization measures for workers in blind spots. The government is positively considering designating additional special employment support industries such as airport ground handling and duty-free shops. It also plans to expand the employment safety net for special-type workers (Special Employment Types, or SEWs) such as delivery drivers and private tutors, and increase the number of direct jobs (public jobs) created through budget investment.

However, additional budget expenditure is inevitable to implement the new employment measures. This is why there are expectations that the third supplementary budget bill will be prepared soon. A Ministry of Employment and Labor official said, "Since the general election is over, there is a high possibility that the third supplementary budget will be prepared and submitted to the National Assembly immediately," adding, "They will try to pass the supplementary budget during the last extraordinary session before the 20th National Assembly's term ends."

The government’s employment package measures reflect the serious state of the employment market. According to the 'March Employment Trends,' the number of employed youth was 3,671,000, down 229,000 compared to the same month last year. Youth accounted for 58.3% of the 393,000 decrease in new employment among those aged 15 to 64. The decrease in youth employment is the largest since January 2009 (-262,000). The youth employment rate fell to 41.0%, down 1.9 percentage points from a year ago, marking a decline for the first time in 22 months.

The decrease in new employment was observed in all age groups except those aged 60 and over. Employment among people in their 30s and 50s decreased by 108,000 and 75,000 respectively, turning to a downward trend, while the decrease among those in their 40s widened from 104,000 in February to 120,000. Even among those aged 60 and over, the increase in employment, which had been over 500,000 for two consecutive months, shrank to 336,000.

The problem is that the decline in employment is expected to accelerate further and unemployment may increase. Eun Soon-hyun, Director of the Social Statistics Bureau at Statistics Korea, said, "Employment is a lagging indicator," and added, "Also, working hours decrease on election days, and since April 15, the day included in the April employment trend survey, was the National Assembly election day, negative effects are expected to appear."

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