[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Since the Moon Jae-in administration, it has been revealed that 12,710 short-term youth jobs were created under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) affiliated agencies, with a budget of 77.8 billion KRW invested. There is criticism that only low-quality jobs were produced to improve youth unemployment rates.
According to data received from MOLIT by Song Seok-jun, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the People Power Party, a full survey of short-term jobs under 6 months for those aged 18 to under 34, which do not provide unemployment benefits or severance pay, showed that the number of youth short-term part-time hires during the Moon Jae-in administration was 12,710, with a budget of 77.8 billion KRW.
Under previous administrations, the number of youth short-term part-time hires and budgets were as follows: Lee Myung-bak administration had 6,373 hires with a budget of 21.3 billion KRW, and Park Geun-hye administration had 8,919 hires with a budget of 35.9 billion KRW. The number of hires under the Moon Jae-in administration was more than twice that of the Lee Myung-bak administration, and the budget increased by 3.9 times; compared to the Park Geun-hye administration, hires increased by 1.5 times and the budget by 2.3 times.
Among them, the Korea Railroad Corporation and Korea Expressway Corporation had no youth short-term part-time jobs during the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, but under the Moon Jae-in administration, the number of hires increased to 1,850 and 712 respectively.
The budgets spent by these two agencies to hire youth short-term part-time workers amounted to 5.168 billion KRW for Korea Railroad Corporation and 4.51 billion KRW for Korea Expressway Corporation.
Additionally, compared to the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, the number of youth short-term part-time hires and budgets under the Moon Jae-in administration for MOLIT affiliated agencies were as follows: Korea Land and Housing Corporation increased hires by 2.5 times compared to Lee Myung-bak and 2 times compared to Park Geun-hye, with hiring budgets increasing by 2.4 times and 2 times respectively.
The Korea Facilities Safety Corporation saw hires increase by 13.4 times compared to Lee Myung-bak and 4.7 times compared to Park Geun-hye, with budgets increasing by 16 times and 13.6 times respectively.
The Korea Transportation Safety Authority experienced hires increasing by 18.7 times compared to Lee Myung-bak and 1.8 times compared to Park Geun-hye, with budgets increasing by 31.7 times and 2.2 times respectively.
The types of work performed by youth short-term part-time workers hired by MOLIT affiliated agencies were mostly simple tasks such as document copying and office assistance, loading and unloading work, snow removal, and passenger guidance.
Assemblyman Song said, “The deception of reducing unemployment rates through short-term part-time jobs no longer works,” adding, “It is necessary to refrain from producing short-term part-time jobs in public institutions that only drain national finances, and the ultimate solution to youth employment is to create quality jobs in the private sector through customized talent development aligned with industrial demand and deregulation.”
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