Asia Economy and Seoul City Joint Project [Era of Work-Life Balance 2.0]
Goal to Reach 1,000 Companies with Over 160 Newly Selected
"Providing Close Support to Places with High Work-Life Balance Culture Improvement"
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] If your small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) has a work-life balance (Work-Life Balance, WoRaBel) organizational culture, consider applying to become a Seoul-type Strong Small and Medium Enterprise (Seoul-type Gangso Enterprise). Seoul City selects and supports Seoul-type Gangso Enterprises from among public institution-certified SMEs that have contributed to job creation expansion and employment stability. Studio Seed Korea was also selected as a Seoul-type Gangso Enterprise last year. Through this, it received support from Seoul City for youth interns replacing employees on parental leave and is expected to receive additional subsidies related to youth employment.
This year, the city plans to select more than 160 additional Seoul-type Gangso Enterprises. The goal is to reach 1,000 companies by 2022. Currently, there are 532 Seoul-type Gangso Enterprises. Kim Eui-seung, Director of Seoul City’s Economic Policy Office, said, "We are closely supporting companies with high willingness to improve in-house welfare and WoRaBel culture that young people prefer by selecting them as Seoul-type Gangso Enterprises." The city expects that fostering Seoul-type Gangso Enterprises will simultaneously solve the manpower shortage in SMEs and youth unemployment issues.
Being selected as a Seoul-type Gangso Enterprise comes with various benefits. When an employee takes parental leave, the company can receive support for a youth intern to replace them. This support lasts up to 23 months, starting three months before the parental leave and continuing until three months after the employee returns. The city may directly introduce interns, or the company can select them independently.
The benefits increase when hiring youth. If a company newly hires an unemployed youth (aged 18 to 34) residing in Seoul as a regular employee, it receives 10 million KRW per hire. If the company has less than 30% female employees and hires a woman, an additional 3 million KRW per person is provided. Hiring youth who participated in Seoul’s employment support programs adds another 2 million KRW, allowing support up to 15 million KRW. Furthermore, if selected as an excellent company for improving the employment environment, the company receives a 10 million KRW environment improvement voucher and can increase the number of youth hires from three to four. Such companies also qualify for overseas training opportunities.
Additionally, companies can receive preferential interest rates of 0.5% on loans up to 3 billion KRW and free financial and accounting consulting. If the company’s efforts to reduce working hours or increase flexible work arrangements are recognized, up to 10 million KRW per company is supported. Director Kim said, "We are focusing on improving the work environment that employees can feel directly, enhancing employee satisfaction, and simultaneously working to improve the company’s image and status."
To change perceptions of strong small and medium enterprises and increase their recognition, a "Seoul-type Gangso Enterprise Exclusive Recruitment Center" has been created and operates on job portal sites. Using various job networks such as Seoul Job Center, autonomous districts, and university employment information centers, companies can recruit the talent they desire. Director Kim added, "Through the Seoul-type Gangso Enterprise system, we will establish a WoRaBel corporate culture preferred by youth and create a virtuous cycle model for job creation."
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