Assessment Period for Employment Crisis Areas Shortened from 12 to 6 Months... Full-Scale Response to Middle East-Induced Employment Shock

In response to growing employment insecurity stemming from the Middle East war, the government is shortening the assessment period for designating employment crisis areas from 12 months to six months. Additionally, the government plans to reduce blind spots in employment support by including applications for job-seeking benefits from daily workers who changed jobs due to company circumstances.

On April 13, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that Minister Kim Younghoon presided over the '3rd Emergency Employment and Labor Situation Review Meeting,' where officials reviewed these measures to address employment shocks and discussed plans for executing the supplementary budget.

To strengthen countermeasures against employment instability, the government will shorten the calculation period for quantitative indicators used to designate employment crisis areas and special employment support industries from the previous 'average of the past 12 months' to the 'average of the past six months.' The designation of employment crisis areas and special employment support industries is a system in which the government designates and supports regions or industries where employment conditions have significantly deteriorated or are expected to decline sharply.

After the Seoul City, franchise, and delivery specialized companies' electric two-wheeler transition cooperation agreement ceremony held at the Seoul City Hall video conference room on the 24th, delivery drivers from McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Barogo are conducting a pilot operation of electric two-wheelers. On this day, the city promised to cooperate with six companies, including franchise companies McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Kyochon Chicken, and delivery companies Baemin Riders, Vroong, and Barogo, to replace 1,050 delivery two-wheelers with electric two-wheelers this year. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

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With this shortened calculation period, the government will now be able to respond immediately to short-term changes in key indicators, such as: ▲ the employment insurance insured rate being more than 5 percentage points lower than the national average; ▲ the number of insured persons decreasing by more than 5% compared to the same period last year; ▲ job-seeking benefit applications increasing by more than 20%; and ▲ the number of employment insurance businesses decreasing by more than 5%.

The criteria for job-seeking benefit applications, which were previously centered on regular workers, will now include cases where daily workers leave due to company circumstances, allowing the government to better identify the situations of vulnerable workers who lose their jobs due to the end of construction projects or contract expirations.

The employment retention subsidy system will also be revised. In industries directly affected by crude oil supply disruptions, such as petroleum refining and chemical product manufacturing, as well as for companies exporting to the Middle East, subsidies will be provided even if the sales decline criteria are not met, as long as employment adjustments are unavoidable.

Previously, there were ongoing criticisms from the field that it was difficult to utilize the system due to strict eligibility requirements. In response, the government plans to make the criteria more flexible by comprehensively considering industry and regional economic conditions and recognizing 'unavoidable employment adjustments.'

The government is especially paying close attention to youth employment. It has determined that the Middle East war is increasing external uncertainties, thereby intensifying the employment difficulties felt by young people. As a result, the government will actively identify both companies and young people eligible for the Youth Employment Leap Incentive, and concentrate its efforts on expanding opportunities for local youth to gain work experience and vocational training at large companies.

Furthermore, the government will immediately initiate application procedures for each project under the recently finalized KRW 416.5 billion first supplementary budget for 2026, and will proceed with swift execution by coordinating with local governments in parallel.

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon stated, "Instability in the Middle East could directly impact the real economy and jobs," adding, "We will take preemptive action to ensure that supply chain shocks do not spread into a crisis for vulnerable groups."

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