Minister of Employment and Labor "Considering Extension of Special Employment Support Designation Period for Aviation and Other Industries"

Applications Close March 31... Eight Sectors Including Aviation and Tourism Request Extension

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap visited Jeju Air's Seoul office in Gangseo-gu, Seoul on the 18th and toured the crew lounge and other sites before a meeting. The meeting was organized to share Jeju Air's experience in maintaining employment through joint labor-management efforts despite the sharp decline in air travel demand following the COVID-19 pandemic and to hear about any difficulties. Since last year, Jeju Air has maintained employment by having executives agree to partial salary reductions and welfare benefit cuts, and by receiving government employment retention subsidies. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor, stated, "We will review the extension of the designation period for special employment support industries such as the aviation industry as quickly as possible." The designation period for the aviation industry's special employment support industry is until the 31st of next month.

On the afternoon of the 18th, Minister Lee visited Jeju Air's Seoul office in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, and held a meeting with executives and employees, where he made these remarks.

Jeju Air and the aviation industry requested an extension of the special employment support industry designation period during the meeting. Minister Lee responded, "The government will support labor and management's efforts to maintain employment through all possible policy measures."

Since last year, Jeju Air has maintained employment by having labor and management agree on partial salary reductions for executives and reductions in welfare benefits, and by receiving government employment retention subsidies. The employment retention subsidy is a system that supports part of the labor costs when employers facing difficulties due to COVID-19, etc., choose to suspend operations or grant leave instead of layoffs or downsizing.

Last year, the government paid 2.2779 trillion won in employment retention subsidies to 770,000 people at 72,000 businesses. This year, a budget of 1.5416 trillion won has been allocated, and 160.2 billion won is being supported for 140,000 people at 21,000 businesses.

In addition to the aviation industry, the government has designated eight industries as special employment support industries, including tourism transportation, tourism accommodation, performing arts, duty-free shops, airport buses, exhibitions, and international conferences, supporting up to 90% of leave allowances. The designation period ends at the end of next month. These industries requested an extension of the designation period to the government at the end of last month.