[Exclusive] Moon Administration's Youth Job Program: 7,000 Participants Dropped Out Midway Last Year

Budget Increases Every Year... "Satisfaction Drops, Leading to Midway Withdrawal"
Mostly Connected to Small and Medium Enterprises, Social Economy Enterprises, Village Enterprises, and Cooperatives

At the startup job fair held on the 13th at Baekyangnuri, Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, young job seekers are receiving recruitment consultations. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Although the budget for the region-led youth job project, promoted jointly by the government and local governments, has been increasing every year, it has been revealed that a considerable number of participants quit midway. Since the companies participating in the project are mainly small and micro businesses, there are criticisms that job seekers' satisfaction is low and sustainability is poor.

According to data received by Rep. Kim Yongpan of the United Future Party from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 28th, among the total 36,265 participants in the region-led youth job project last year, 6,933 (19.1%) quit their jobs midway. As of the end of last month, among the total 27,187 participants, 3,849 (14.2%) quit midway.

This proportion is about two to three times higher than the general corporate turnover rate. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor's business labor force survey results, the turnover rate (provisional) for small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 300 employees was 5.1% last year, while the turnover rate for large companies was only 2.8%.

The frequent mid-term quitting among participants in the region-led youth job project is analyzed to be due to most of them being connected to micro workplaces where they handle general administrative or production tasks, leading to low satisfaction. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's selection criteria for these companies, the focus is solely on the project itself, such as overlap of financial support, alignment with project objectives, local government willingness, and project necessity. Conditions that young people consider when seeking jobs, such as the company's future growth potential or welfare aspects, are missing.

A local government project official said, "Since the project connects to small and medium enterprises, social economy enterprises, village enterprises, and cooperatives, situations arise where participants quit midway if they find better jobs," adding, "Because we match them to micro businesses, there are cases where companies go out of business."

There are also criticisms that the region-led youth job project is insufficient as a ladder to private companies. Professor Park Youngbeom of Hansung University’s Department of Economics said, "Government-led jobs seem to be more about helping people who are struggling to survive because they cannot find employment immediately rather than having future prospects," adding, "Social enterprises themselves can be seen as places without self-sustainability that the government funds to operate, and creating jobs there again is just the same."

Professor Sung Taeyoon of Yonsei University’s Department of Economics said, "There is a possibility that young people felt it was difficult to achieve results when connected to companies dependent on government support." He added, "Job policies not connected to the private sector have little significance." Choo Kwangho, head of the Job Strategy Office at the Korea Economic Research Institute, said, "Ultimately, the private sector must be revitalized to create various types of jobs where young people can go."

The region-led youth job project is a program jointly run by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and local governments from 2018 to 2021 to support more than 70,000 young people hoping for employment or entrepreneurship. The costs are borne 80% by the government (50% national funds and 30% local funds) and 20% by the private sector. The project period is usually 1 to 2 years. The budget for the region-led youth job project increased from 83.1 billion won in 2018 to 221 billion won in 2019, and 235 billion won this year. As of 2020, the number of projects reached 771, more than double the 372 projects in 2018.

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