Gwangju Employers Federation Expands This Year's Job Project Budget to 11.9 Billion Won

The Gwangju Employers Federation announced on March 11, 2026, that it will actively launch a variety of job support programs to invigorate the youth and local labor markets, as its 2026 job project budget—linked with the Ministry of Employment and Labor and local governments—has expanded to 11.9 billion won, an increase of approximately 4.3 billion won from the previous year.

First, through the “Ministry of Employment and Labor Youth Challenge Support Project,” the federation plans to offer customized programs for young people who have given up on seeking employment, aiming to rekindle their motivation and encourage participation in the labor market.

This project is jointly implemented by Naju City in Jeollanam-do and the Gwangju Employers Federation, and will provide education and support to a total of 78 young people through short-, medium-, and long-term programs. Through this initiative, the organizations plan to actively identify youths who have withdrawn from the job market, support their psychological and emotional recovery, help improve their self-esteem, and facilitate their re-entry into economic activity. In addition, they aim to establish a collaborative system to build a youth self-reliance ecosystem based in the region.

Furthermore, the “Ministry of Employment and Labor Youth Future Plus Project” will offer job training, onboarding programs, youth-friendly organizational culture education, and mentoring programs to job-seeking youth, newly hired young employees, and corporate managers.

Through this, the federation aims to strengthen industry-specific job competencies, deliver tangible employment matching results by linking with companies, and create the foundation for long-term employment through the cultivation of youth-friendly organizational cultures. This project is being implemented for the first time this year and will provide education to a total of 675 participants.

Alongside these efforts, the “Ministry of Employment and Labor Regional Industry Customized Job Support Project” will also be expanded.

Through the “Beoteim-Eum Project,” a step-by-step employment support system will be established in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju—an area designated for proactive response to employment crises—including support for job retention, job transitions, and continued employment. The project also aims to promote workers’ livelihood stability by providing non-wage support in areas such as health and welfare. The project targets job retention for 250 individuals and organizational adaptation support for 20 companies.

In addition, the “Regional Convergence Home Appliance Industry Employment Stabilization Support Project” will provide job suitability assessments, mentoring, and hiring incentives for middle-aged job seekers and incumbent workers in the regional convergence home appliance sector. The program will also offer interview subsidies for job seekers, transportation subsidies for incumbent workers, and organizational culture programs for companies, targeting more than 100 companies, with goals of creating and retaining 260 jobs and supporting 200 job seekers.

Moreover, through the “Regional Major Accident Prevention Blind Spot Elimination Project,” the federation plans to strengthen practical support and safety management capabilities at small-scale local manufacturing and construction workplaces that fall between legal regulation and financial support. The project will offer tailored occupational safety and health training, safety equipment by work process, and expert risk factor consulting.

Yang Jinseok, Chairman of the Gwangju Employers Federation, stated, “With this year’s significant expansion of the job project budget, we expect to be able to simultaneously support youth employment and address companies’ workforce shortages. We will actively strive to build a sustainable employment ecosystem where regional companies and youth can grow together.”

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