"71 Public Institutions with Zero Hires from Regional Universities"

Only 127 out of 266 Places Select Local University Students
"Regional Talent Recruitment Remains at Recommendation Level"

More than half of the public institutions (266 in total) that recruited new employees last year failed to comply with the recommended hiring quota for graduates from regional universities.

Photo by Asia Economy DB

According to the 'Status of Regional Talent Recruitment in Public Institutions' submitted by the Ministry of Education to Yoo Ki-hong, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, all public institutions hired at least one new employee last year, but 139 institutions (52.5%) did not meet the recommended quota of 35% for regional talent (graduates from regional universities) as stipulated by the Regional Universities Promotion Act (Act on the Promotion of Regional Universities and Balanced Human Resources Development).

Regional Universities Promotion Act Exists but Is Ineffective... Public Institutions Neglect Regional University Graduates

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Article 13 of the Regional Universities Promotion Act recommends that public institutions and companies with more than 300 regular employees hire at least 35% of their new recruits from regional university graduates. Institutions and companies that meet or exceed this recommended quota can receive government support such as promotion, job placement assistance, loans, investment, and financing.

However, less than half of the public institutions met the recommended quota for regional talent recruitment. According to Ministry of Education data, more than half of the institutions (139) did not comply with the Regional Universities Promotion Act in their hiring last year.

Among them, 71 institutions did not hire any new employees from regional universities. Public institutions with zero new hires from regional universities included research institutions under the Ministry of Science and ICT (30 institutions) and the Office for Government Policy Coordination (26 institutions).

Of the remaining 68 institutions that hired at least one, the proportion of regional university hires was still low. The Democracy Movement Commemoration Association, which hired 17 new employees last year, had only 2 from regional universities, and the Seoul Arts Center hired 23 new employees over the past four years but only 2 were regional university graduates. The Industrial Bank of Korea, a national policy bank, hired 64 regional university graduates out of 236 new hires (27.1%), and the Export-Import Bank hired 11 out of 61 (18%).

As of 2022, non-capital area universities, which are the target of support under the Regional Universities Promotion Act, account for about 60% of all university students. Among students, there are complaints that the recommended quota for regional university recruitment is too high or that the blind recruitment system conflicts with the priority policy for regional talent.

Students dining at a university operating a "1000 won school meal" program.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

A, a student at K University in the Seoul metropolitan area, said, "It is contradictory to recommend blind recruitment while giving extra points to students from regional universities."

B, a student at C University in a regional area, expressed frustration, saying, "I enrolled in a regional university to get a job as regional talent. I hope the scope of regional talent recruitment expands."

C, who works in the HR department of a company, said, "Extra points are given to regional talent during the document screening stage, but the interview evaluation is conducted blindly. Since evaluators cannot know the applicant's university, the results seem to vary every year."

Assemblyman Yoo cited Article 8 of the Regional Universities Promotion Act, stating, "While public institutions with poor performance can be requested to expand recruitment, the committee has not placed the analysis and evaluation of regional talent recruitment status on the agenda in the past three years," and criticized, "The 35% regional talent recruitment rate for public institutions is only a recommendation under the current law, so it lacks effectiveness." He also emphasized the need to raise the recruitment quota for regional talent in public institutions and to stipulate it directly in the law.

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