Ministry of SMEs and Startups Takes Steps to Alleviate 'Job Mismatch' Between SMEs and Young Job Seekers

Selected as 'Outstanding Small and Medium Enterprise Jobs of the Month' and Provided to Job Seekers

On the 12th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it will promote the "Excellent Small and Medium Enterprise Jobs of the Month" youth matching support project until the end of this year. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The government is taking steps to alleviate the job mismatch between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and young job seekers due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 12th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it will promote the "Excellent SME Jobs of the Month" youth matching support project until the end of this year.

The project implementing organizations?the Korea Federation of SMEs, the Small and Medium Business Corporation, and the Korea Employment Information Service?will select jobs preferred by young people from the recruitment information of excellent SMEs currently hiring and support matching with young job seekers.

The selected companies are "Cham Ggwaenchanheun" SMEs, smart factory adopting companies, and youth-friendly strong SMEs. Every month, among companies recruiting on the "Cham Ggwaenchanheun SME Platform," recruitment information is selected in real time for companies that meet criteria such as ▲credit rating BB- or higher ▲annual salary of 27 million KRW or more ▲regular employment.

Any young job seeker (aged 15 to 34, up to 39 for those who have completed military service) can participate in the project. By registering in the talent pools of the Corporate Workforce Difficulty Center, Worknet, or JobKorea, they can receive job recommendations considering the "Excellent SME Jobs of the Month" information and their job-seeking information or apply for jobs directly.

The Korea Federation of SMEs has established a dedicated recruitment section on the Cham Ggwaenchanheun SME Platform to provide various information such as job postings, employee reviews, and commuting convenience.

Additionally, recruiting companies are offered services such as free access to JobKorea’s talent pool and customized talent recommendations for each job posting. Young job seekers receive services including job posting recommendations based on their job-seeking information and individual mailing alerts about recruitment information.

The Small and Medium Business Corporation and the Korea Employment Information Service also plan to support job matching by opening dedicated recruitment sections on the Corporate Workforce Difficulty Center website and Worknet, providing recruitment information and recommending talents and recruiting companies.

Recruiting companies hiring young people can utilize the Youth Employment Special Incentive supported by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which provides up to 9 million KRW per person for up to one year, supporting up to three employees per company.

Jeong Gi-hwan, Director of the Job Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Young people are facing many difficulties finding jobs due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the employment market and the continued job mismatch in SMEs. We will strive to help young people find good jobs through this support project.”

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