Government to Create 110,000 Short-Term Jobs for Youth by Distributing 800 Billion Won

Youth Digital Jobs, Work Experience Support Program Launched
Applications Open for SMEs and Mid-sized Companies...Multiple Participation Allowed
Short-term Jobs Funded by Taxes..."Need to Consider System Reform"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The government is investing 800 billion won of public funds to create 110,000 short-term jobs in the private sector. The method involves supporting wages for up to six months when companies hire young people. This solution was introduced to quickly address the worst youth unemployment crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 30th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that it would begin accepting applications from private small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies for the 'Youth Digital Job Project' and the 'Youth Work Experience Support Project' starting today. The Youth Digital Job Project aims to create 60,000 jobs with a budget of 561.1 billion won. The Youth Work Experience Support Project plans to create 50,000 jobs with a budget of 235.2 billion won.

Both projects target SMEs and mid-sized companies with five or more employees that intend to newly hire youth (aged 15 to 34). Some companies, such as venture companies, youth startups, and those in promising growth industries, with 1 to 4 employees can also apply. A company can participate in both projects, but companies that have had forced layoffs such as recommended resignations within one month prior to the application are excluded. If approved as a support target, companies can receive support for up to six months for youth hired until the end of December. For example, if hired in December 2020, support is available until June 2021.

2-3 Month Fixed-Term Employment... Full Mobilization of Ministries and Related Agencies

The Youth Digital Job Project supports companies that hire youth in information technology (IT)-related jobs with up to 1.8 million won per month for wages and 100,000 won for indirect labor costs. Job types are categorized as ▲content planning types such as website, YouTube, and SNS management ▲big data utilization types such as application development and big data analysis ▲record information types such as digitization and database management of records. Companies must sign a labor contract with youth for at least three months, pay wages above the minimum wage, and enroll them in the four major social insurances.

The Youth Work Experience Support Project provides up to 800,000 won per month in wages and 10% management fees to companies that hire youth on a short-term basis to offer work experience opportunities. Companies must sign fixed-term labor contracts of at least two months with youth and assign mentors to provide guidance and training. There are no restrictions on the job type, and university students can also be hired.

Although the project aims to create youth jobs in the private sector, the government exerts some influence. Institutions and associations recommended by various ministries will utilize their expertise to focus on discovering companies for 'specialized field jobs.' To enhance project outcomes, inter-ministerial cooperation will be pursued through the Youth Job Project Steering Committee.

The Youth Digital Job Project includes 18,202 people in specialized fields such as ▲strengthening online competitiveness of SMEs linked to the New Korean Wave (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange) with 1,000 people ▲youth digital jobs in small and medium environmental companies (Ministry of Environment, Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute) with 1,000 people ▲support for AI training data and service/infrastructure construction (Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Intelligent Information Industry Association) with 1,000 people. For the Youth Work Experience Support Project, specialized fields include ▲hotel trainee recruitment support (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Hotel Association) with 2,100 people ▲female entrepreneur youth intern support (Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association) with 800 people, totaling 6,950 people.

"Youth Unemployment Must Be Overcome Through Institutional Reform Rather Than Budget"

According to the employment trends announced by Statistics Korea for June, the youth unemployment rate (ages 15-29) last month was 10.7%, the highest since June 1999 (11.3%). The employment auxiliary indicator 3 (expanded unemployment rate), which reflects the youth's perceived unemployment rate, rose 2.2 percentage points year-on-year to 26.8%, marking the worst since statistics began in 2015. The number of youth who answered that they were 'resting' without job-seeking activities last month exceeded 450,000. The Youth Digital Job and Work Experience Support Projects are new job initiatives launched by the government amid ongoing youth unemployment due to the COVID-19 economic downturn.

On the 13th, citizens visited the Unemployment Benefits Briefing Hall at the Seoul Employment Welfare Plus Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

However, voices are emerging that rather than pouring budget directly into solving youth unemployment, it is necessary to support corporate management activities through various regulatory reforms and create quality jobs. Professor Choi Young-gi of Hallym University said, "While it is understandable that the government cannot just stand by amid the youth employment shock and is pushing projects within its capacity, it is regrettable that there is no visible consideration of support measures to promote youth employment without massive budget spending."

Professor Choi added, "Especially in the 'Korean New Deal' policy, there seems to be no consideration of institutional reforms that can expand youth new hires. Policies and programs are needed that can create youth jobs in the mid-to-long term, such as regulatory reforms demanded by companies or changes in labor-related systems, even if immediate effects are not visible." He suggested, "Mainly IT ventures, startups, and other new companies are the main agents creating new labor demand and many youth jobs. There are various ways, such as temporarily easing industrial and labor regulations that these companies find difficult to handle or providing tax reductions."

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