Incheon City to Create 130,000 Localized and High-Value-Added Jobs

Incheon City Hall

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City is putting all its efforts into discovering region-specific jobs in aviation, manufacturing, and tourism, and creating high value-added jobs through the Incheon-type New Deal this year.

On the 1st, the city announced plans to create a total of approximately 134,700 jobs by preparing the '2021 Comprehensive Job Plan,' which includes four major sectors and 13 implementation strategies based on these contents.

First, 1.8973 trillion KRW will be invested in lifecycle-based and region-specific job projects to support jobs suitable for local conditions and demand.

For the youth, who have suffered significant damage due to a decrease in new hires caused by COVID-19 and the stagnation of face-to-face service industries, the city will provide career formation opportunities and encourage private companies to expand youth employment, and support matching between middle-aged job seekers and small and medium-sized enterprises facing recruitment difficulties.

Job projects to support the aviation industry, which is facing a severe employment crisis due to a decline in air passengers, will also be promoted. An 'Air Job Center' will be established to provide re-employment services for retirees in the airport area and operate programs to strengthen employment capabilities.

The city also plans to invest 564.6 billion KRW in the Incheon-type New Deal project to create 2,680 high value-added future jobs. To this end, it will actively support enhancing corporate competitiveness and expanding sales channels by attracting domestic and international companies in the bio and healthcare sectors and establishing infrastructure.

The Bio Process Workforce Training Center, which was attracted last October, will conduct pilot projects from the second half of the year, and XR (Extended Reality) convergence content demonstration, development, and production will be supported centered on the Incheon AR·VR Production Hub Center.

The Incheon Startup Park, which opened in Songdo International City in February, operates a demonstration district for startups focused on region-specific industries and plans to create quality jobs and nurture unicorn companies by linking various programs with companies such as Incheon International Airport Corporation and Incheon Urban Corporation.

Public-led job projects will also be continuously promoted. To support the livelihood of vulnerable groups due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, temporary public jobs supporting COVID-19 vaccination and quarantine work (1,694 hopeful workers, 504 local quarantine jobs) will be provided.

Additionally, in connection with the Ministry of Employment and Labor's National Employment Support System, the city will support job seeking and livelihood stabilization for low-income vulnerable groups, improve working environments for youth-employment excellent SMEs, and support dormitory rentals for SME workers to create a better working environment.

An official from Incheon City stated, "We will concentrate all our capabilities on overcoming the economic and employment crisis caused by COVID-19 and creating quality jobs desired by citizens through the Incheon-type New Deal."

Meanwhile, Incheon's employment indicators worsened compared to the previous year due to decreased production and weakened consumer sentiment caused by the COVID-19 impact last year.

However, thanks to several emergency livelihood economic measures, the employment rate for those aged 15 and over remained second among special and metropolitan cities at 61.3% as of last year. Also, in February this year, the employment rate recovered to the 60% range, and the unemployment rate fell by 1.3% from the previous month to 4.9%, showing signs of recovery.

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