Yoon Administration to Recruit 13,000 More Youth Interns This Year

Hiring 35,000 Young Interns in the Public Sector
Scale Increased by 13,000
Central Administrative Agencies Revive Young Intern Program After 13 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The government will hire a total of 35,000 youth interns in the public sector this year. This is an increase of 13,000 compared to last year. The employment period is up to 6 months, and the youth age range is from 19 to 34 years old according to the Youth Basic Act.

On the 17th, the government announced a plan to revitalize youth internships at the Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

Hiring scale expanded by 13,000... Youth internships revived in central administrative agencies after 13 years

The reason the hiring scale increased by as many as 13,000 compared to previous years is that the existing public sector youth internship hiring scale was significantly expanded, and new hiring channels such as central administrative agencies and internship-type work experience programs were established.

First, 45 central administrative agencies (ministries, offices, and agencies) will select youth interns again for the first time in 13 years since 2010. Starting with 2,000 this year, they plan to hire more than 10,000 over the next four years (2023?2026). Public institution youth internships will hire 21,000 people. This is 2,000 more than last year (19,000). Additionally, 7,700 new hires will be made through domestic and overseas excellent company internship-type work experience programs. Overseas interns will be selected at about 4,500.

Accordingly, the government estimates that the total number of interns hired in the public sector this year will be 35,200 (2,000 in central administrative agencies, 21,000 in public institutions, 7,700 in financial projects, and 4,500 overseas interns). This is about 13,000 more than the 22,000 hires last year based on the Yoon Seok-youl administration's statistics.

Encouraging employment periods of 6 months or more... Focus on practical work rather than simple tasks

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The internship programs will also be strengthened. To help improve work capabilities, the government plans to encourage internship periods, which are currently 1 to 4 months, to be extended to 6 months or more. This will be done by reflecting youth internship performance of 6 months or more in the public institution management evaluation. Also, interns will be encouraged to be assigned to fields where they can gain practical experience considering their majors and areas of interest, rather than simple clerical assistance or menial tasks.

The Office for Government Policy Coordination, which released the data, stated that the Ministry of Personnel Management will present guidelines for hiring, service, and education, and each agency will establish regulations accordingly. To ensure fair hiring, the recruitment of family members of high-ranking public officials under the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act will be restricted.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said, “We expect youth interns to bring new vitality to the public service,” and added, “For this system to succeed, it is necessary to create an organizational atmosphere where interns can participate in substantive work, so I ask agency heads to provide active support and interest.”