Government Tackles Developer Shortage with 'Youth SW Education to Employment' Program Launch

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Launches 'Venture Startup Academy'
Recruiting 2,000 Trainees... Aiming for 50% Employment Rate
Training Costs Supported by Government, Monthly Incentive of 300,000 KRW Provided
Bonus Points for Participating Companies... Support for New Hire Salaries

The number of employed people increased by more than 1.13 million compared to the previous year in January. This increase is the largest in 22 years. However, it is evaluated that this is largely due to the fact that the number of employed people decreased by nearly 1 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago. In particular, looking at the numbers by age group, the number of employed people in their 30s, which had decreased by more than 270,000 a year ago, only increased by about 20,000 in January. The photo shows employees at the Seoul Western Employment Support Center replacing job information on the job information bulletin board that day. Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 22nd that it will officially launch the 'Venture Startup Academy' project to supply software developer manpower.

The Venture Startup Academy is a training program designed through agreements between training institutions and associations or organizations consisting of venture companies, which survey the manpower demand of their member companies to nurture software talent.

This year, about 2,000 trainees will be recruited through five associations under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and after short-term training of 3 to 6 months, at least 50% of the trainees will be guaranteed employment at venture companies.

The five associations are Korea Startup Forum, Korea Management Innovation Small and Medium Business Association (MainBiz Association), Venture Business Association, Daedeok Innopolis Venture Association, and Small and Medium Business Technology Innovation Association (InnoBiz Association).

They will recruit venture companies to hire the trainees and design education programs tailored to corporate needs in collaboration with professional training institutions, with current employees of companies participating as lecturers.

Venture companies or young job seekers (aged 15 to 34, up to 39 for those who have completed military service) wishing to participate can check detailed information such as application methods, specific incentives, and field-specific courses on each association’s website or contact the person in charge.

The project implementing organizations will support young job seekers participating in the project by matching them with venture companies and facilitating company site visits.

During the training period, training costs will be supported by national funds through the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s K-Digital Training project, and a monthly incentive of about 300,000 KRW will also be provided during the training period.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to grant evaluation points to participating companies in six areas?funding, research and development (R&D), sales channels, exports, manpower (industrial technical personnel), and startups?across 18 support projects worth 1.1642 trillion KRW.

Venture companies hiring young people can apply for the Youth Job Leap Incentive supported by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which provides up to 800,000 KRW per month in labor costs for up to 12 months per new hire (up to 30 people).

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