Hong Nam-ki "Youth and Women Employment Measures to Be Prepared in Q1" (Update)

Measures for Youth and Women Employment in the First Quarter

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, predicted that the employment shock would continue through January and February this year in relation to the December employment trends.

On the morning of the 13th, Hong held the 26th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting and the 9th Korean New Deal Ministerial Meeting, stating, "Considering the base effect from early last year amid the significant weakening of the employment market's resilience due to the COVID-19 employment shock, difficult employment conditions are expected to continue through January and February in terms of indicators."

Hong added, "Since employment tends to lag behind economic trends, when the economy is struggling, employment difficulties tend to follow with a time lag. The December employment situation worsened due to the combined effects of the base effect and the economic impact of the third wave of COVID-19 in November last year."

Regarding this, Hong stated, "We will actively implement tailored support for youth and women and prepare 'Youth Employment Activation Measures' and 'Post-COVID Era Women's Job Expansion Plans.'"

Hong also said, "To alleviate short-term employment shocks, the public sector will play a supporting role in the first quarter, when the employment shock is expected to be greatest, by focusing on hiring 80% (830,000 people) of the directly planned job projects for this year and 44% (28,000 people) of social service jobs."

Meanwhile, according to the December employment trends announced by Statistics Korea on the same day, the number of employed people in December decreased by 628,000 compared to the previous year, and the annual number of employed people also decreased by 218,000 last year.

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