'Small Business Welfare Platform' Used by 80,000 Employees

Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Korea Chamber of Commerce Launch
5,540 SMEs Join
Purchases Include Millie's Library Subscription and Apple AirPods Pro
MRO and Regional Special Halls Also Planned to Open

Source: Ministry of SMEs and Startups · Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] #Small and medium-sized enterprise A provided all employees with a subscription to Millie's Library and Apple AirPods Pro through the SME welfare platform. The platform frequently offers special deals and low prices, so both the company and employees often purchase needed items there.

#Small and medium-sized enterprise B operated various welfare programs but, due to its small size, had no partnerships with health checkup or recreational facilities. Employees felt some disappointment about this. However, through the SME welfare platform, they can now use health checkups and recreational facilities at discounted rates like employees of large corporations.

The "SME Welfare Platform" is gaining attention from both employers and workers. Since its launch in September last year by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the platform's cumulative sales have surpassed 1.1 billion KRW. Since its inception, 5,540 SMEs and about 80,000 employees have joined the platform and are using various welfare services.

The SME Welfare Platform was established to reduce the welfare gap between large corporations and SMEs and to enable SME workers to enjoy welfare benefits comparable to those of large companies. Operated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it ensures reliability and has no separate membership fees or usage charges, so there is no financial burden.

Currently, the welfare platform offers welfare services in five categories?travel and recreation, hobbies and self-development, and product malls?through 26 partner companies, providing SME employees with market-lowest or additionally discounted prices.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry have recently partnered with SK Magic, Yogi-ottae, and others to offer more diverse services to SME workers. They are also negotiating additional partnerships with four companies, including 11st. The number of partner companies, which was 19 at launch, is planned to expand to 30 by July this year.

In particular, in July, a new section for corporate consumables (MRO) will be established to provide commonly used consumables such as copy paper at market-lowest prices. In September, a regional special section centered on metropolitan local governments will open to offer region-specific services such as local recreational facilities, experiential services, and specialty products.

Choi Won-young, Director of the Job Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "The welfare level of SMEs is only 43% of that of large corporations. We will prepare policies to reduce the welfare gap between large corporations and SMEs and strengthen the services of the SME Welfare Platform so that more SME workers can receive welfare benefits at the level of large companies."

Meanwhile, a survey conducted in April this year by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry targeting 5,129 companies registered on the SME Welfare Platform found that 47.5% of companies either do not provide welfare expenses to employees or provide less than 100,000 KRW per person annually.

Among the 846 SMEs that responded to this survey, 82.4% said they would actively invest in employee welfare if the government helped reduce the burden by partially supporting welfare costs, indicating a strong willingness among SMEs to improve employee welfare levels.

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