Seoul City Supports 'Work Environment Improvement' and 'Competitiveness Enhancement' for 5 Major Urban Manufacturing Industries Including Clothing Manufacturing and Printing

From this year, additional support items such as mechanical metals, printing, jewelry, and handmade shoes
Strengthening corporate competitiveness through management expert consulting including consulting on support items, organization, and performance management

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is launching a "three-pronged support" initiative to revitalize urban manufacturing sites, which have been stagnant due to COVID-19, focusing on improving working conditions, managing workers' health, and strengthening corporate competitiveness. The project, which until last year primarily supported garment manufacturing sites, will be expanded to include five major urban manufacturing sectors: machinery and metal, printing, jewelry, and handmade shoes, aiming to support up to 1,000 companies.

On the 21st, Seoul announced that it will safely transform the working environments of small and outdated medical manufacturing companies, which even find it burdensome to purchase fire prevention items such as fire extinguishers, fire detectors, and circuit breakers. It will also provide expert consulting to support workers' health management and enhance competitiveness, which is crucial for the survival of these companies.

First, the scope of support will be more than doubled compared to last year. The participation range will expand from 17 autonomous districts last year to 25 this year, and each company will receive up to 8 million KRW for facility improvements (with a 20% self-payment of the total cost). The support scale will increase from 285 companies last year to 700 this year. The budget will rise from 2 billion KRW to 4 billion KRW. Currently, the project is underway targeting 400 garment manufacturing companies.

The work environment improvement support items include a total of 30 types: 10 items in the hazard removal (safety management) category such as fire extinguishers, circuit breakers, old wiring organization, and soundproofing facilities; 13 items in the labor environment improvement category such as ducts, portable dust collectors, air purifiers, heating and cooling devices, LED lighting, and restroom improvements; and 7 items in the work efficiency improvement category such as vacuum dies, cutting tables, and pressing machines. Exceptionally, additional support items can be added through consultation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

In addition to visible working environment improvements such as production facilities, health management for garment manufacturing workers will also be supported. In cooperation with the Ministry of Employment and Labor's "Worker Health Center," health consultations including blood pressure, blood sugar, and body composition measurements will be provided to workers and business owners. Health consultations will be supported by prior reservation applications targeting garment companies, and consultations can be conducted either by the applicant visiting the health center or by the health center visiting the company's workplace.

Furthermore, to enhance the survival competitiveness of small companies with few employees that found professional task division difficult, management consulting will also be provided. This includes selecting appropriate improvement items through consulting on supported items, workplace organization and tidying (education and execution), and performance management to help establish a system that can be autonomously managed.

Seoul will promote the "Garment Manufacturing Work Environment Improvement Support Project" targeting autonomous districts through a public contest using existing budgets. Companies wishing to participate should inquire with the economic department of their respective autonomous district and then apply. The public contest period for autonomous districts is from the 22nd to April 14th, and up to 40 companies per district can be selected to apply to Seoul.

Eligibility requires companies to be registered within the respective autonomous district and meet the following conditions: ▲ garment manufacturing companies with fewer than 10 regular employees (small-scale manufacturers) ▲ no outstanding national or local taxes as of the application deadline ▲ agreement to post-management and actual condition measurement for three years. Additional public contests for four sectors?machinery and metal, printing, jewelry, and handmade shoes?will be held after securing supplementary budgets. Park Dae-woo, Director of Economic Job Planning, stated, “We will closely manage the entire process from improving working conditions, managing workers' health, to strengthening corporate competitiveness through professional consulting to safely improve the urban manufacturing industry, which has been stagnant due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, and to enhance work efficiency.”

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