Incheon City Wins Top Award for 'Senior Job Comprehensive Evaluation' Four Years in a Row...Nation's First

Public-Private Partnership Discovers Quality Jobs, Providing Employment to 47,000 People

Senior Dream Store operated directly by retired seniors [Provided by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City has been selected as the best institution nationwide for four consecutive years in the comprehensive evaluation of senior job programs.

The city announced on the 14th that it was chosen as the top local government in the comprehensive evaluation category among 17 cities and provinces in the '2021 Senior Job Project Evaluation' hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Senior Human Resources Development Institute.

With this, Incheon earned the honor of being the first in the country to be selected as the best institution for four consecutive years.

Despite the worsening COVID-19 situation last year, the city received high praise for exceeding its target by 106.5% while promoting job projects to support seniors' income.

The city collaborated with military districts, senior human resources development centers, and others, investing a budget of 157.1 billion KRW to operate about 550 project groups, providing jobs to a total of approximately 47,000 seniors.

In particular, the 'GS25 Senior Dream Store' project, launched in cooperation with a leading domestic distribution company and as the first metropolitan initiative, attracted attention.

This project, where seniors directly operate convenience stores and use all profits for wages and business operation costs, was promoted through a business agreement with a private company rather than public institutions or other public sectors. It has been evaluated as a good example of productive welfare jobs that proactively respond to government senior job policies.

So far, two GS25 Senior Dream Stores have opened, and the third store is scheduled to open this month.

The city also discovered the 'Safe School Quarantine Project' in cooperation with the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education, guaranteeing an income of 550,000 KRW per month.

During the COVID-19 situation, seniors were deployed to ensure students could attend school safely by disinfecting school facilities, guiding student behavior, and checking for fever, which resulted in high satisfaction from schools.

Additionally, the city pioneered new sales channels by becoming the first nationwide to partner with financial institutions to supply visitor souvenirs as products made through senior job programs, securing stable sales.

Incheon City plans to create customized jobs by age and target group by strengthening cooperation with related organizations and the private sector, centered on the 'Senior Job Creation Task Force' formed last month.

Meanwhile, in the '2021 Senior Job Project Evaluation,' Bupyeong-gu in Incheon received the grand prize and Michuhol-gu received the excellence award in the competition among 237 cities, counties, and districts, and among about 1,300 executing institutions, 16 institutions in the Incheon area, including the Incheon Senior Human Resources Development Center, were awarded.

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