Seoul City Establishes 10 'Youth Employment Academy' Sites to Train 4th Industrial Revolution Field Experts... Cultivating 2,000 Annually

Youth Employment Slump Solidifies, Total Youth Employment Solution Considering Corporate Shortage of New Technology Specialists
Starting This Year at Yeongdeungpo and Geumcheon Campuses, Additional Opening in Gangnam Next Year... Expanding to 10 by 2030

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 26th, Seoul City announced that it will establish the ‘Youth Employment Academy,’ which provides free practical skills training in digital new technology fields of the 4th Industrial Revolution such as AI and Fintech to job-seeking youth in their 20s and 30s who have basic vocational skills and employment willingness, and connects them to employment and entrepreneurship. The plan is to open 10 campuses across Seoul by 2030.

Seoul City aims to nurture 2,000 technical personnel annually in the 4th Industrial Revolution fields to supply field-oriented talents needed by companies and to alleviate youth employment difficulties. While youth employment stagnation is becoming entrenched, on the other hand, companies are facing serious mismatches in finding specialized personnel in digital new technology fields. Private educational institutions in new technology fields charge high tuition fees (7 million to 20 million KRW per year), which poses an economic burden for young job seekers aiming to enter these fields.

Reflecting the demands of IT and SW companies, Seoul City operates two educational courses for science and engineering graduates and humanities graduates, providing growth opportunities to job-seeking youth selected through fair processes such as written tests and interviews. With the goal of achieving 100% employment and entrepreneurship success for all graduates, Seoul City mobilizes a pool of over 2,000 companies, including small and medium enterprises and companies interested in hiring.

The first ‘Youth Employment Academy’ campus, Yeongdeungpo Campus, has started operations. This is an expanded transformation of the existing ‘Southwest Region Technology Specialized Campus.’ In the second half of this year, a total of 337 people will participate in 15 educational courses. In December, the Geumcheon Campus will open to operate a ‘Digital Transformation Curriculum’ aimed at alleviating employment difficulties for humanities majors. The Gangnam Campus (SETEC) will open in July next year, and the campuses will be expanded sequentially.

Seoul City announced that it will build a 4th Industrial Revolution employment ecosystem encompassing employment and entrepreneurship support projects it has promoted so far, with the ‘Youth Employment Academy’ as the focal point. The Seoul Business Agency (SBA) will handle the affairs related to the establishment and operation of the ‘Youth Employment Academy.’ The three core directions of the ‘Youth Employment Academy’ are ‘flexibility,’ reflecting changes in technology trends and adaptability in space and curriculum; ‘demand-based,’ reflecting corporate needs and youth perspectives; and ‘field-oriented,’ focusing on project-based education led by current professionals.

Seoul City surveyed CEOs and HR managers of 401 IT and SW companies located in Seoul regarding their technology and job fields and technology stacks to develop the curriculum. There are two courses: the ‘SW Developer Training Course’ (8 fields) mainly for science and engineering graduates, and the ‘Digital Transformation Talent Training Course’ (4 fields) to enhance the digital capabilities of humanities graduates.

After the training, performance evaluations will be conducted based on completion rates, employment rates, satisfaction, etc., and any insufficient courses will be immediately abolished to ensure strict quality control. Trainees are fairly selected through written exams and interviews, focusing on young job seekers with high learning and employment willingness. The selected trainees will be supported through a four-stage employment ladder and a two-stage entrepreneurship ladder with the goal of 100% success in employment and entrepreneurship.

Seoul City will closely manage the connection between course completion and job placement by tightly linking its pool of over 2,000 companies, including 586 small and medium enterprises, 984 Hi Seoul Brand certified companies, and 214 companies interested in hiring, along with various employment and entrepreneurship programs promoted by Seoul City.

To this end, Seoul City plans to build an online platform by next year that includes resume management for each ‘Youth Employment Academy’ graduate and a database of recruiting companies. Additionally, starting next year, a hackathon competition certifying outstanding talents among graduates will be held, and a community for interaction among graduates will be operated to expand job matching opportunities.

Meanwhile, Seoul City unveiled the brand ‘SeSAC’ for the ‘Youth Employment Academy,’ which will serve as a youth employment hub. The name symbolizes the hope that young job seekers will grow like newly sprouted seedlings into talents in new technology fields and actively engage in the field.

Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of Seoul City’s Economic Policy Office, said, “The Youth Employment Academy is a 4th Industrial Revolution talent training center where any youth can connect their talents and interests to a career. It is also a solution to the quantitative and qualitative mismatch problems in youth jobs. We plan to establish 10 locations across Seoul by 2030 and create an employment and entrepreneurship ecosystem by mobilizing all available networks such as Seoul City’s youth job projects and entrepreneurship facilities.”

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