Additional Budget for Hiring Employees at Gwangju Seo-gu Facility Management Corporation Ultimately Cut

Controversy Over Accepting Applications Before Council Approval of 57 Million Won Budget for Hiring 7 People

Corporation Admits Procedural Error... Plans to Resubmit in Late November Supplementary Budget

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho] The supplementary budget for the Gwangju Seo-gu Facilities Management Corporation, which caused controversy by posting a job announcement and accepting applications before the council's budget review was completed, has ultimately been cut.

The Facilities Management Corporation could not avoid criticism for ignoring proper procedures.

According to the Gwangju Seo-gu Council on the 22nd, during the 306th 1st regular session's Budget and Accounts Special Committee, 57 million KRW needed to hire seven new employees was cut from the approximately 143 million KRW supplementary budget proposed by the Seo-gu Facilities Management Corporation.

The corporation had planned to expand its workforce ahead of next year's organizational restructuring, intending to hire seven additional employees, including five experienced hires and two new hires.

On the 8th, they announced the "2022 Seo-gu Facilities Management Corporation New Employee Open Competitive Recruitment" and accepted applications over seven days from the 13th to the 19th.

The recruitment was for four general administrative positions at grade 4 (two administrative, one technical), two general positions at grade 5 (one administrative, one technical), and two general technical positions at grade 7, with employment scheduled for November 1.

The problem was that the supplementary budget required for this plan was processed before the council's review.

The regular session reviewing the supplementary budget began only on the 13th, the same day applications started being accepted. This means the announcement was made and applications were received before the budget was secured.

Furthermore, during the preliminary review by the Planning and General Affairs Committee, the entire supplementary budget for the corporation was cut, and on this day’s Budget and Accounts Special Committee, only the personnel expenses portion was cut.

Seo-gu council member Ahn Hyung-joo said, "Since the Facilities Management Corporation has not been operating for long and most operations are still outsourced to the private sector, it does not seem necessary to keep increasing personnel," adding, "It would be better to prepare a detailed plan and include it in next year's main budget."

He continued, "The corporation's decision to post the announcement and accept applications despite the budget not being approved, ignoring administrative procedures because of urgency, is a serious administrative error."

A representative of the Seo-gu Facilities Management Corporation acknowledged, "We admit the administrative procedure was wrong and accept the full cut of the personnel expense item," adding, "We will secure the budget through the proper process in the upcoming supplementary budget at the end of November."

They also said, "Although the appointment was scheduled for November 1, it is expected to be delayed by about a month," and added, "We will strive to proceed without major issues."

Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho yjm3070@asiae.co.kr

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