Minister of Employment Reviews Corporate Responses to '9 Million Won Per Person' Youth Job-Seeking Support Fund

On the 20th, the Korea Federation of SMEs and youth organizations visit KOSDAQ-listed company 'Foodnamu'

Minister of Employment and Labor, An Kyung-duk. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] An Kyung-duk, Minister of Employment and Labor, visited Foodnamu, a KOSDAQ-listed company located in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 20th, stating, "We plan to make efforts so that the recent recovery trend in youth employment can accelerate further based on stable jobs created through policies such as the Youth Employment Special Incentive." Minister An visited Foodnamu to observe corporate responses to youth employment policies, including the 'Youth Employment Special Incentive' policy, which was deliberated and approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 18th. This policy is a program that provides up to 9 million KRW per worker for up to one year to business owners who hire youth aged 15 to 34 as regular employees for more than six months.

The meeting held from 3 p.m. that day was attended by Minister An, Foodnamu representatives including CEO Kim Young-moon, Seo Seung-won, Executive Vice President of the Korea Federation of SMEs, and Moon Yoo-jin, CEO of the Welfare State Youth Network. At the meeting, Minister An checked the status of corporate participation and on-site difficulties regarding not only the special incentive policy deliberated at the Cabinet meeting on the 18th but also existing policies such as the Youth Digital Job and Youth Tomorrow Savings Deduction. The detailed operation plan for the special incentive policy is scheduled to be established and announced next month.

Foodnamu is a company that participated in the Youth Digital Job project, which supports 6 million KRW per youth worker over six months, and has a record of hiring all 50 participants as regular employees. CEO Kim said, "We are interested in the newly promoted youth projects," adding, "We plan to consider participation as soon as the detailed contents are finalized." Executive Vice President Seo said, "In a situation where companies' hiring capacity has declined due to COVID-19, the special incentive project will be an opportunity for both companies and youth to win," and added, "We will actively promote it to affiliated companies." CEO Moon said, "I hope that youth employment projects, including the special incentive and digital jobs, will help improve the reality for young people."

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the youth employment rate for those aged 15 to 29 last month was 43.5%, up 2.6 percentage points from April of the previous year, and the number of employed persons increased by 179,000 to 3,832,000. However, the so-called 'expanded unemployment rate,' also known as the 'perceived unemployment rate,' was as high as 25.1%. The expanded unemployment rate is an indicator that counts not only the unemployed but also potential employment-capable and job-seeking individuals.

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