H1 Job Budget Executed at 9.05 Trillion KRW... 830,000 Direct Jobs Hired in Q1

Ministry of Employment and Labor Announces '2021 Work Plan'

Park Hwa-jin, Vice Minister of Employment and Labor. Vice Minister Park held a preliminary briefing on the Ministry of Employment and Labor's work plan for this year on the 2nd. (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced plans to spend about 9 trillion won of the job budget in the first half of this year and hire 830,000 people for government-supported temporary direct jobs by March. According to the National Employment Support System (Gukchwi), which has been in effect since January, employment and income support will be provided to 590,000 people this year and 189,000 people in the first quarter. The plan is to focus budget investment from the first quarter to quickly resolve the employment crisis caused by COVID-19.

On the 3rd, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the '2021 Work Plan' with these details. The five major tasks are ▲expanding job opportunities ▲establishing an employment safety net ▲innovating the labor market in the post-COVID era ▲creating workplaces that respect labor ▲reducing serious accidents. A ministry official explained, "The overall direction of the work plan is focused on increasing jobs from the first quarter to establish an employment safety net."

First, a portion of the 30.5 trillion won job budget, amounting to 13.5 trillion won for early execution management projects, will be concentrated in the first quarter and first half of the year. Of this budget, 67%, about 9.4 trillion won, will be spent in the first half, and 38%, about 5.13 trillion won, in the first quarter. However, some criticism has been raised that the early execution management projects are mainly composed of public social contribution job projects such as industrial safety keepers, potentially producing only low-quality jobs. It is argued that government funds are being poured into 'social welfare small jobs' rather than high-income private sector jobs.

By March, 830,000 people will be hired as direct job personnel for senior jobs, care services, and others. This corresponds to 80% of the annual target of 1,042,000 people. Earlier, the government announced on December 17 last year, through the 2021 Economic Policy Direction, plans to create 433,000 senior jobs, 30,000 senior customized care jobs, and 17,000 region-led youth job projects in January this year.

Employment retention subsidies will be paid to 400,000 people by March. More than half of the annual target of 780,000 subsidy recipients will be invested early in the first quarter. Considering the total budget of 1.3728 trillion won this year, about 600 to 700 billion won is likely to be spent. The employment retention subsidy system supports up to 50% of wage reductions for up to six months if the employer maintains employment through labor-management agreements.

Through the newly implemented Gukchwi since January, 189,000 people will be supported by March (150,000 receiving 500,000 won monthly cash support for six months), with a total of 590,000 supported this year. Gukchwi is a Korean-style unemployment assistance system that provides employment support services and livelihood support to vulnerable employment groups such as low-income job seekers who do not receive unemployment benefits, youth unemployed, women with career interruptions, and middle-aged workers.

The 'universal employment insurance' will be gradually expanded. Following the inclusion of artists in the employment insurance coverage last December, special employment types (teukgo), platform workers, and self-employed workers will be included from July this year, next year, and 2023 respectively. However, the application of employment insurance to self-employed workers will be fully discussed through a social dialogue body to be established in the first quarter. Concerns have been raised that the rapid increase in unemployment benefit recipients may negatively affect fiscal soundness.

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