"100,000 Youths Grow Hope for Tomorrow with Youth Tomorrow Filling Deduction"

Jungjingong to Hold 5th Anniversary and 100,000 Maturity Celebration Event for Youth Tomorrow Filling Deduction on the 25th

At the 5th anniversary ceremony of the Youth Tomorrow Filling Deduction held on the afternoon of the 25th, Chairman Kim Hak-do (first from the left) and other attendees are taking a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of Employment and Labor (Minister Ahn Kyung-deok) and the Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kim Hak-do, hereinafter referred to as SBC) announced on the 25th that they held an event at the Ministry of Employment and Labor's large conference room in the Government Sejong Complex to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the launch of the Youth Tomorrow Savings Program and the milestone of 100,000 maturity benefit recipients.

The Youth Tomorrow Savings Program is a project in which small and medium-sized enterprises and young workers jointly accumulate contributions, and government subsidies are additionally provided when the worker remains employed for more than two years. The event was held in a hybrid non-face-to-face format with minimal participants, including Park Hwa-jin, Vice Minister of Employment and Labor, Kim Hak-do, Chairman of SBC, representatives of outstanding companies enrolled in the Youth Tomorrow Savings Program, winners of the essay contest, and the 100,000th maturity subscriber.

Since its introduction five years ago, the Youth Tomorrow Savings Program has grown into a representative youth policy that satisfies both young people and companies and provides practical help for youth employment. Over the past five years, a total of 479,336 young people and 111,748 companies have joined, with 91.1% of participating youth and 91.5% of companies expressing satisfaction.

Among the enrolled youth, 103,683 individuals received maturity benefits averaging about 16 million KRW per person, resulting in approximately a 5.3-fold asset formation effect through the youth savings program. Companies participating in the youth savings program showed about a 30 percentage point higher retention rate of employees with one or two years of service compared to young workers employed at general small and medium enterprises, demonstrating that companies also achieved success in retaining excellent young talent long-term through the program.

Dr. Kim Yoo-bin of the Korea Labor Institute stated, "Unlike past government youth employment policies, the Youth Tomorrow Savings Program has achieved high employment outcomes through direct support to companies and youth, and it is evaluated as providing direction for future youth policies." Specifically, an analysis estimating the net effect of the policy showed that youth savings program participants have a higher probability of remaining employed at the same company and a higher probability of staying in the labor market after changing jobs compared to non-participants, and the employment period required for enrolled workers was about five months shorter than the average employment period for all workers, indicating a new employment promotion effect. Additionally, 88.3% of those re-employed after maturity received higher wages than before, showing effectiveness in early career formation.

Chairman Kim Hak-do stated, "SBC will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Employment and Labor to create quality jobs and reduce wage and welfare gaps between large and small-to-medium enterprises."