Over Half of Companies Identify 'Job Creation' as Top Priority for New Government

More than Three Times Higher Compared to Social Conflict Mediation (17.2%) and Political Reform (12.1%)

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] More than half of domestic companies consider job creation through economic revitalization as the most important policy task for the next government. Regarding economic laws that need improvement to enhance corporate vitality, many opinions pointed to the Serious Accident Punishment Act (easing of punishment provisions, etc.) and the Minimum Wage Act (supplementing the calculation method, etc.).

On the 13th, the Federation of Korean Industries (hereinafter FKI) commissioned Mono Research, a market research specialist, to conduct a 'Survey on Corporate Opinions Related to the Next Government's Economic and Industrial Policies' targeting the top 1,000 companies by sales (157 respondents). As a result, 60.5% of companies responded that job creation through economic revitalization is the priority. This was followed by social conflict resolution (17.2%), political reform (12.1%), diplomatic and inter-Korean relations stability (5.7%), and cultural prosperity (1.9%).

This is interpreted as reflecting companies' demands for the next government to take the lead in resolving the heightened economic uncertainty caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and to focus on job creation through economic revitalization.

Regarding deregulation tasks that the next government hopes to prioritize, the most common response was investment- and business-specific customized deregulation (35.2%). This was followed by labor regulation relaxation (25.8%), reduction of quasi-tax burdens (15.0%), transition to a negative regulation system (13.6%), and deregulation of convergence industries such as telemedicine (8.0%).

In addition, in response to questions about economic laws that the next government should improve to promote economic revitalization and corporate vitality, many answered the Serious Accident Punishment Act (easing of punishment provisions, etc.) (37.8%) and the Minimum Wage Act (supplementing the calculation method, etc.) (32.4%). The FKI explained that this reflects companies' concerns about excessive punishment and ambiguity in the Serious Accident Punishment Act and difficulties caused by uniform application of the minimum wage.

Regarding new industries requiring focused support, AI (23.8%) received the highest response, followed by future automobiles such as electric and autonomous vehicles (20.3%), next-generation semiconductors and displays (16.9%), bio and health (14.7%), robotics (8.7%), hydrogen industry (8.2%), and secondary batteries (5.6%).

Furthermore, concerning measures to enhance entrepreneurship that the next government should prioritize, the most common response was the establishment of corporate-friendly legal systems (37.6%).

Meanwhile, in response to questions about the management environment expected to have the greatest impact on corporate management activities in the next 2 to 3 years, the most common answer was domestic and international economic uncertainty due to the continuation of COVID-19 (44.4%). This was followed by the spread of ESG management (16.8%), innovation competition such as AI and digital (12.5%), difficulties in establishing global supply chains due to US-China conflicts (12.5%), social conflicts such as labor-management relations (8.2%), and the global carbon neutrality trend (5.2%).

Yoo Hwan-ik, head of the FKI Industry Headquarters, stated, “Through this survey, we confirmed companies’ opinions that they hope the next government will lay the foundation for economic revitalization and focus on job creation through projects such as expanding future growth engines and deregulating corporate investment.” He added, “We expect the next government to listen to companies’ opinions, strengthen communication with businesspeople, and create a system and culture conducive to business.”

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