Working Together with Autonomous Districts and Private Organizations from Planning to Implementation... Creating 3,500 Jobs Over 3 Years
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government, together with autonomous districts, will create 400 public jobs next year through the 'City-District Bottom-up and Cooperative Job Creation Project,' which develops region-specific specialized jobs needed by residents. They have already identified 30 project areas with 20 autonomous districts and decided to invest a total budget of 6 billion KRW.
According to Seoul City on the 26th, this job project, which started in 2018, is jointly carried out by the city, autonomous districts, and local community-based private organizations throughout the entire process from planning to implementation. This differentiates it from the existing 'top-down' projects where the government or city plans and the autonomous districts only implement. Projects are selected annually through district competitions, and project budgets necessary for personnel expenses, operating costs, and infrastructure construction are supported for up to two years.
In particular, next year, many projects related to non-face-to-face industries, which have become normalized across society after the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate/environmental fields such as reducing disposable products, will be included. This is analyzed as a result of actively reflecting the practical demands from the field to respond to rapidly changing social changes in the post-COVID era.
For example, Gangbuk-gu will start a project to replace disposable products used in care facilities with reusable containers. Dongjak-gu will undertake a senior job project that collects and cleans ice packs used in fresh food delivery and provides them to small business owners in need. Gwanak-gu and Dongdaemun-gu will build platforms to promote and sell small business products online and non-face-to-face.
Other notable projects include the 'Resident-Village Connection Project Huam Local (Yongsan-gu),' which builds a local job creation platform through operating village meals and workshops; the 'Daycare Substitute Cook Support Project (Yangcheon-gu),' which supports substitute personnel during daycare cooks’ annual leave; and the 'Beautiful Animal Happiness Companion Culture Public Service (Gangdong-gu),' which trains animal behavior experts.
Seoul City has expanded the possibility of sustainable local-based jobs by creating a total of 3,415 quality public jobs over the past three years through the city-district cooperative job project.
In Sindang-dong, Jung-gu, the domestic fashion and sewing hub with about 1,000 sewing companies concentrated, a project centered on a 'joint brand' is underway. Young managers and others are newly hired to oversee everything from brand development and launching to opening joint workshops and stores, and pioneering online sales channels. This supports small businesses with new vitality through the joint brand and creates jobs, achieving a twofold effect.
In Nowon-gu, the autonomous district is operating the 'I am also a Chef' project, which creates shared kitchens and helps young people and women with career interruptions find jobs or start businesses.
To ensure the projects can establish themselves as sustainable business models even after the project period ends, commercialization through professional consulting is also conducted. As a result, unlike existing public job projects focused on simple tasks or the elderly, active participation from youth and middle-aged people is being encouraged, and the types of projects are diversifying.
Seodaemun-gu’s 'Kids Clean Plus Project,' which selects cleaning specialists and dispatches them to local daycare centers, is a case that developed into a sustainable autonomous district public service project after two years. It has proven a twofold effect by improving daycare teachers’ working environments and maintaining a clean childcare environment, and has spread to five other autonomous districts including Gwangjin-gu and Yangcheon-gu.
Kim Ui-seung, Director of Seoul City’s Economic Policy Office, said, "This project can develop into sustainable jobs because it connects projects that residents need on the ground in each autonomous district to jobs. Especially next year, since various projects required in the post-COVID era such as reducing disposable products, collecting and reusing ice packs, and non-face-to-face sales for small businesses are included, we expect to achieve results that contribute practically to residents’ lives and create jobs simultaneously."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
