27 Million KRW for Companies Hiring One Young Full-Time Employee... 1.2 Trillion KRW Budget for Next Year

Youth Policy Coordination Committee to Deliberate and Approve 'Youth Life Improvement Measures' on the 18th
380,000 Supported for Youth Additional Employment Incentives... 21% Increase Compared to This Year
Naileum Savings Re-enrollment Requirements Relaxed... Expiration Period Extended by 6 Months

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The budget for the 'Youth Additional Employment Incentive,' which provides up to 27 million KRW per person to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies that hire young people as regular employees, will increase to 1.2 trillion KRW next year.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 18th that the '2nd Youth Life Improvement Plan' containing this content was reviewed and approved at the 1st Youth Policy Coordination Committee chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun.

The Youth Additional Employment Incentive is a program that supports labor costs for employers of SMEs and mid-sized companies (with 5 or more employees) that additionally hire young people as regular employees.

It provides up to 9 million KRW per year for one young regular employee for up to three years. Support is available for up to 30 employees per company, but the company must maintain employment for six months. Businesses in promising growth industries and venture companies with fewer than five employees are also eligible to participate.

The budget for the Youth Additional Employment Incentive will increase by more than 21% from this year's main budget of 990 billion KRW to 1.2 trillion KRW next year. The support scale will expand from 290,000 people this year to 380,000 people next year, including 90,000 new beneficiaries.

The 'Youth Job-Seeking Activity Support Fund,' which provided 500,000 KRW monthly to young people preparing for employment, will be restructured from next year into the Korean-style unemployment assistance system called the National Employment Support System (Youth Special Case).

While the Youth Job-Seeking Activity Support Fund had a restriction of being supported only once in a lifetime within two years after graduation or dropout, from next year, re-participation will be allowed three years after the end of employment support.

The operation method of the Youth Tomorrow Filling Deduction, which supports young people who have worked long-term at SMEs to accumulate a lump sum, will also be improved.

If a young person enrolled in the Youth Tomorrow Filling Deduction leaves due to company reasons such as business suspension/closure, bankruptcy, or wage arrears, they can re-enroll in the youth deduction if they find re-employment within six months. However, due to the recent COVID-19 situation, it has become difficult to find re-employment within six months.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Employment and Labor decided to extend the re-employment period by up to six months for young people whose re-employment period expires between May and December this year. The expiration date is set as December 31 of this year.

For example, a young person whose six-month re-employment period expires on May 10 will have the period extended until November 10, and one whose period expires on August 10 will have it extended until December 31.

Protection measures for work-study dual system learners will also be strengthened. There has been a need to establish a system that can effectively protect learners when wage arrears or industrial accidents occur at work-study dual system companies.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will strengthen protection for learners by legally stipulating grounds to exclude companies with accidents from being selected as work-study dual system companies or to cancel their designation.

An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, "We will steadily implement each task so that young people can feel the policy effects on the ground," and added, "We plan to actively promote the improvement tasks through youth-friendly media such as SNS."

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