'Geulim-ui Tteok' New Deal Jobs

Investing 160 Trillion Won to Create 1.9 Million Jobs
Government's Job Creation Plan by 2025
Despite Aiming to Expand Employment Competencies
Multiple Hiring Preferences Attached
Actual Entry Requirements Are Strict

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Although the government announced that it will invest a total of 160 trillion won in the Korean New Deal by 2025 to create 1.9 million jobs, there are criticisms that the actual entry requirements are stringent as various "preferential conditions" follow the hiring criteria.

◆Graphic Tool Skills Preferred Specified= According to Asia Economy's investigation on the 10th, some of the "Seoul-type New Deal Jobs" specified various preferential conditions in their New Deal job recruitment announcements. Contrary to the original intention of allowing participants to enhance their employment capabilities through work experience during the project period, actual job-related qualifications were listed as preferred conditions, making it far from the so-called "no-spec hiring" that excludes gender, age, education, and career.

The promotional announcement for the Seoul-type New Deal Jobs women's job makeup project listed graphic tool proficiency, blog reporter experience, and viral marketing experience as preferred conditions. Some even specified "public institution work experience" as a preferred condition. The Citizen Hall, which hires only one person, stated that they prefer candidates with public institution work experience, those capable of using sound and lighting equipment, and those with experience in space operation and facility management (including administrative tasks).

Even if one secures a New Deal job, mid-term resignations are not uncommon. Since these are contract positions of about 10 months, individuals can quit due to personal reasons. If there are dropouts during the project period, a certain period of "job vacancy" is inevitable.

◆Accumulated Employment Shock Due to COVID-19= It is widely agreed that New Deal jobs, which have a working period of around one year, cannot fill the employment shock. Kim Yubin, a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, said, "Employment gaps are expected to continue this year," adding, "If COVID-19 continues until next year, the employment crisis will worsen significantly as cumulative unemployed and new unemployed overlap," and advised, "Public jobs are short-term in nature, so sustainable jobs must be created."

Professor Park Youngbeom of Hansung University’s Department of Economics also pointed out, "Public jobs are very temporary in nature," and "Looking at the New Deal jobs, they are not much different from previous jobs." He added, "Companies are spending money more on reducing regulatory risks than on increasing investment and jobs," and emphasized, "Ultimately, various regulations must be eased to create an environment where the private sector can generate jobs."

The government plans to announce youth and job measures within the first quarter. These are likely to include jobs that can be directly linked with the private sector. A government official said, "There are many criticisms that government jobs are not a real alternative," and "We are preparing with a focus on quality rather than quantity of jobs." He added, "We plan to present jobs that can actually be linked with the private sector."

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