Lim Seo-jeong, Deputy Minister of Employment, "Protection Measures for Platform Workers to Be Established by the End of This Year"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Im Seo-jeong, Vice Minister of Employment and Labor, stated on the 7th, "By the end of this year, we plan to establish various protection measures for platform workers, including the protection of basic labor conditions and the establishment of a fair trade order."

Vice Minister Im made these remarks during a visit to the delivery agency 'Spider Craft' located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the same day. Currently, the government is focusing on expanding the employment safety net, such as extending employment insurance and industrial accident insurance coverage for platform workers.

This visit was arranged to explore ways for platform workers and companies to coexist and prosper together. The focus was on the importance of people above all for the successful establishment of the Digital New Deal.

Spider Craft, founded last year, also considered 'people-centered management' as a way to successfully establish itself in the highly competitive delivery agency market.

The company supports 10% of the insurance premiums for comprehensive insurance for delivery drivers and encourages all drivers to enroll in industrial accident insurance. It produces and distributes protective gear in-house and plans to establish the industry's first rank system. Regular mentoring is conducted, and guidelines are distributed to jointly resolve issues occurring in the field.

As a result, in just over a year since its founding, Spider Craft has achieved the milestone of having about 8,000 delivery drivers operating under its name across 170 branches nationwide.

Following the presentation of Spider Craft's case on this day, a roundtable discussion was held to discuss protection measures for workers across the platform economy and proposals for industrial development.

Participants, including delivery drivers, delivery agencies, and platform company representatives, agreed that the platform economy presents an important opportunity to create new jobs.

Vice Minister Im emphasized, "The platform economy must also become a warm industry centered on people to continue developing sustainably."

He added, "By the end of this year, we plan to prepare protection measures for platform workers that include various plans such as protecting basic labor conditions and establishing a fair trade order."

He stated, "By observing cases of win-win cooperation in the field and listening to the stories of various people working in the platform economy, we will prepare necessary measures on-site."

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