Guro-gu, Training Village Bus Drivers for Middle-Aged and Older Adults

One-Stop Support from Large Vehicle License Acquisition to Employment... Three-Stage Process of Basic, Skill Enhancement, and Field Training... Contributing to Alleviating Manpower Shortage in Village Bus Companies... Last Year's Trainee Employment Rate Reached 68.4%

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] “From education to employment, all at once!”

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Seong) is operating a ‘Village Bus Driver Training Program’ targeting middle-aged and older adults.

Guro-gu announced on the 20th that it has prepared the Village Bus Driver Training Program to help middle-aged and older adults find reemployment, providing customized support from education to employment, and that both trainees and village bus companies are highly satisfied with the program.

The ‘Village Bus Driver Training Program’ was established last year through discussions between the district office and eight local village bus companies in anticipation of a manpower shortage due to the implementation of the ‘52-hour workweek system.’ After surveying the manpower demand of village bus companies, participants are recruited and trained according to the demand.

The program consists of three stages: basic, skill enhancement, and field training.

This year, from May to early this month, basic and skill enhancement training was conducted for 19 trainees. The basic course included obtaining a Class 1 large vehicle license, detailed driving aptitude tests, acquiring bus driving qualifications, and basic etiquette education. The skill enhancement course involved an 80-hour bus driving experience program at the Korea Transportation Safety Authority Hwaseong Transportation Safety Experience Education Center.

Considering the industry situation, Guro-gu plans to discuss hiring and selection with village bus companies and conduct field training where prospective hires will directly operate bus routes.

A Guro-gu official said, “We hope the Village Bus Driver Training Program will help middle-aged and older adults preparing for a new start,” and added, “We will continue to prepare various employment programs.”

Last year, 13 out of 19 trainees (68.4%) who completed the education succeeded in finding employment as village bus drivers in the local area.

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