'CheongnyeonON Project' Gains Corporate Support: "Following KT and Samsung, LG and SK Commit"

KT Samsung Recruitment Positive... Attention on LG, SK, Hyundai, etc.
Concerns Raised Over Difficulty in Restructuring Due to 'Reduced Open Recruitment'

Minister of Employment and Labor An Kyung-duk (left) and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong are greeting each other at the 'Samsung Youth Software Academy (SSAFY)' training site held at Multicampus in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 14th. Samsung participated as the second company following KT in the government's youth job project, the 'Youth Hope ON Project.' Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] As KT and Samsung have decided to additionally hire a total of 42,000 young people, the government has secured commitments from LG and SK to participate in youth recruitment and is also persuading Hyundai Motor and others. The project's goal is to simultaneously achieve youth employment and the establishment of a horizontal work culture.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum announced on the 17th that LG and SK, in addition to KT and Samsung, have agreed to participate in this project. The government is sending a message urging companies to join as it will implement support policies such as the 'Youth Employment Support Project' and the 'K-Digital Training' program. Previously, KT and Samsung provided educational programs and planned to link some of them to employment. LG and SK are expected to adopt similar methods. Considering Samsung's 30,000 and KT's 12,000 hires, there is widespread speculation that LG, SK, and even Hyundai Motor will promise recruitment on a considerable scale.

These measures are widely seen as the government's desperate strategy in response to concerns about 'growth without employment.' Even before COVID-19, voices worried about 'growth without employment' were not few. With a fixed low birthrate and aging population structure reducing the working-age population, and considering soaring housing prices, inflation, and social insurance premiums, there are many concerns that the complacent perception that 'employment is a lagging indicator and will improve once the economy recovers' will make it difficult to overcome a long-term recession.

It is positive that companies are responding to the government's message for now, but it is uncertain whether this will serve as a fundamental solution. This is because the companies participating this time have not announced plans to increase regular public recruitment in the future. Due to industrial restructuring, the 'gig economy,' which uses skilled high-level personnel on an as-needed basis, is trending worldwide. The gig economy refers to an economic system based on short-term employment contracts.

According to the employment portal site Incruit, a survey of 814 domestic companies on '2021 second half recruitment trends' found that among companies that said they had recruitment plans for the second half, 35.6% chose 'regular public recruitment,' and 48.9% chose 'occasional recruitment.' Over the past two years, the proportion of regular public recruitment decreased by 14.0 percentage points, while occasional recruitment increased by 18.2 percentage points. Samsung is the only company maintaining public recruitment, while LG and Hyundai Motor have already switched to occasional recruitment. SK also plans to fully transition to occasional recruitment starting next year.

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