Jungjingong Leads Efforts to Resolve SME Labor Shortage Using Entrepreneurial Workforce Difficulty Center

Job Matching, Training, and Employment Retention Subsidy Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young) and the Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kim Hak-do, hereinafter referred to as SBC) announced on the 14th that they will support the resolution of recruitment difficulties for local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and SMEs in employment-vulnerable industries such as shipbuilding by utilizing the Corporate Workforce Difficulty Center.

The Corporate Workforce Difficulty Center is a customized job support platform for SMEs operated by SBC since 2018 to resolve job mismatches between job seekers and recruiting SMEs and to facilitate employment matching. Last year, through the Corporate Workforce Difficulty Center, job training and employment consulting were provided to various job seekers including youth and middle-aged individuals, supporting employment for 3,291 people at 2,284 SMEs.

As a result of the support, the average hiring period for recruiting companies was shortened by 7 days, recruitment costs decreased, and the employment retention rate for job seekers over 6 months was high at 60.4%. The average employment period was shortened by 4.7 weeks.

This year, the support ratio for local SMEs, which are relatively vulnerable in the employment market, is planned to be expanded from 53% last year to over 60%. In addition, manpower matching support will be strengthened for traditional manufacturing companies such as shipbuilding, where more than 10,000 personnel are expected to be needed in the first half of this year.

The key employment support projects to be promoted this year include ▲job seeker employment consulting and comprehensive support for SME jobs ▲operation of win-win job programs between large and small-medium enterprises ▲on-site coaching for skilled workforce training and supply ▲support for smart manufacturing company job packages, etc. Joh Han-gyo, head of the Workforce Growth Division at SBC, said, "According to last year’s job matching platform data analysis, the proportion of recruiting companies located in local areas was about 61%, which is 22 percentage points higher than the metropolitan area, and among them, the proportion of manufacturing companies was about 62%." He added, "SBC will expand various supports using the Corporate Workforce Difficulty Center, focusing on local and manufacturing SMEs experiencing recruitment difficulties."