September 'Month of Vocational Competency' Busy Government Sales... Interest in 'Neungnyeok Bank System'

System for Saving National NCS Specs to Aid Corporate Job Seeking

If Increasing Population Is Difficult, Strengthen Vocational Training to Boost Productivity
Urgent Government... Launching '3 Major Employment Safety Nets' for Lifelong Vocational Development of Citizens

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government is rolling out support policies for vocational training development targeting vulnerable employment groups such as youth in celebration of September, the Month of Vocational Competency. There are simultaneous reactions criticizing these as populist policies funded by taxpayers’ money and praising the success in creating relatively innovative systems like the 'Competency Bank System' scheduled to be implemented next year.

The Presidential Committee on Jobs held the '21st Jobs Committee Meeting' on the 9th and promoted 'National Lifelong Vocational Development' as one of the 'three major employment and social safety net' policies alongside nationwide employment insurance and the national employment support system. Considering the increasingly serious issue of a shrinking working-age population due to demographic changes such as low birth rates and aging, it is urgent to improve the productivity of the existing workforce, and reforming the vocational competency system is seen as one of the solutions. Kim Yong-gi, Vice Chairman of the Jobs Committee, explained, "The agenda of the 21st Jobs Committee consists of measures to support the government’s development and introduction of new technologies to foster private new industries, create new jobs, and help citizens work in jobs they desire."

A notable point is the decision to expand the support target for the 'National Tomorrow Learning Card,' which provides 3 to 5 million KRW per person for vocational competency development for up to five years. The target is expanded from prospective university graduates to third-year students. This agenda was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 17th.

The government announced that it will lower the government subsidy criteria for employers supporting worker vocational training. Previously, the criteria required a training period of at least two days and 16 hours of training time. Even the eligible companies had to meet the 'at least one day and eight hours' standard. Going forward, the standard will be unified to 'at least four hours' regardless of whether the company is large or small.

Additionally, the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea held the '15th Human Resource Development (HRD) Academic Conference' over two days from the 13th to the 14th. Twenty-four diverse lectures were conducted, among which the keynote speech titled 'The Origins of Learning' by Professor William Rothwell of Pennsylvania State University on the 13th drew attention. Professor Rothwell shared methods to leverage new ideas and insights gained from training experiences.

The ultimate goal of the government in promoting the Month of Vocational Competency events and policies is to lay the groundwork for the successful launch of the 'Competency Bank System' to be implemented next year. This system allows individuals to save and manage their job training records like deposits in a bank through the National Competency Standards (NCS) and use them in job-seeking activities. Individuals receive certificates recognizing their saved learning information for use in employment and other purposes. Companies can easily verify detailed job competency information of workers. This policy was developed after years of deliberation by the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s Vocational Competency Evaluation Division. It is also expected to help youth who cannot participate in private support programs like Samsung’s software training program SAFFY.