Pohang City Achieves Highest Youth Employment Rate Since COVID-19... Aiming Even Higher This Year!

Employment Indicators Show Steady Growth in the Second Half of 2022

Achievements in Youth Customized Job Support Policies

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Pohang City's employment indicators for the second half of 2022 showed a steady increase, with the youth employment rate reaching an all-time high since the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the major employment indicators for the second half of 2022 announced by Statistics Korea on the 21st, the employment rate in the Pohang area (the proportion of employed persons among the population aged 15 and over) was 58.8%, an improvement of 0.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the economic activity participation rate also rose by 0.7 percentage points, and other employment indicators showed an increasing trend compared to the same period last year.

In particular, the youth employment rate improved by 3.8 percentage points from the same period last year to 38.8%, marking the highest level ever recorded after remaining in the low to mid-30% range since COVID-19.

This is seen as the result of consistent efforts to implement youth-tailored job support policies in response to domestic and international economic crises, including youth employment support projects and the operation of the Pohang City Job Support Center to alleviate difficulties in job seeking and recruitment.

Pohang City has carried out initiatives such as ▲ Pohang Youth Center and Startup Platform ▲ Youth Startup LAB ▲ Operation of the Gyeongbuk Content Company Support Center ▲ Conversion of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) interns to regular employees ▲ Support for health checkup expenses for newly hired SME employees ▲ Support for regular employment through 1 Company-1 Youth additional hiring ▲ Job Sympathy Pay support projects.

Along with this, the city has set this year's job creation goal as ‘Citizen-centered! Creating 32,500 better jobs!’ and plans to actively promote customized employment support projects such as tailored technical workforce training to meet regional demand, resolving job mismatches, and supporting SMEs with poor working conditions.

To achieve this, Pohang City plans to accelerate ▲ Support for strengthening youth employment capabilities ▲ Provision of youth job experience ▲ Customized vocational training based on regional industries such as new growth industries ▲ Tailored technical workforce training through industry-academia cooperation ▲ Startup support for youth prospective entrepreneurs ▲ Women’s jobs for work-family balance ▲ Stable job provision for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and disabled.

The target of 32,500 jobs this year is about 1,000 more than the 31,586 jobs provided by Pohang City last year, and a total of 568.3 billion KRW will be invested in the job budget, including 394.1 billion KRW (109.2 billion KRW in national funds) for jobs through regional SOC projects.

The job fair held in Pohang City last November.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, “In the difficult economic situation caused by high inflation, securing stable jobs for citizens is an important task,” and added, “We will make further efforts to create sustainable quality jobs by preparing various job projects and fostering competitive future new growth industries.”