Rapid Increase in Senior and Public Jobs Ahead of General Election

Government Expands Senior Job Opportunities to 1.03 Million... Public Institutions Increase New Hiring by 10%

The government plans to increase senior jobs to 1.03 million this year and expand new hires in public institutions, which had been reduced until now, by 10%. Customized measures for university and high school students have also been prepared to promote youth employment. Although this is part of efforts to revitalize livelihoods, there are criticisms that the sudden expansion of public jobs is populism ahead of the general election.

According to the government on the 19th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare will increase senior jobs this year to 1.03 million, up 147,000 from the previous year (883,000). The increase of 147,000 is the largest ever increase in senior jobs. In particular, the government announced through the Lunar New Year livelihood stabilization measures that 630,000 senior jobs will be hired early around the Lunar New Year holiday. More than 60% of the 1.03 million jobs will be hired around the Lunar New Year. In this regard, the government held a 'Fiscal Execution Inspection Meeting' the day before and decided to execute 10 trillion won, 67% of the 14.9 trillion won budget for the job sector, in the first half of the year.

New hires in public institutions will also be expanded. On the 17th, Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Strategy and Finance, attended the '2024 Public Institution Recruitment Information Fair' and announced that the scale of new hires in public institutions this year will increase by 10% compared to the previous year, adding 24,000 people. This is the first time the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, which had been reducing new hires in public institutions under the policy of 'public institution innovation,' is expanding the scale of new hires.

According to public institution management information disclosures, the scale of new hires in public institutions decreased from 41,000 in 2019 to 30,645 in 2020, 26,946 in 2021, and 25,356 in 2022. The '2022 Public Sector Job Statistics' recently released by Statistics Korea shows that the number of new jobs in the public sector decreased by 29,000 in 2022. Since the government presented 22,000 as the scale of new hires last year, it is expected that the number decreased even more compared to the previous year.

In 2022, former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho emphasized innovation, saying "The public institution party is over," but the atmosphere has clearly changed this year. Deputy Prime Minister Choi announced, "We will prepare management evaluation incentives for active new hiring efforts by public institutions and will not spare budget and personnel support."

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will expand the number of schools eligible for the 'Customized Employment Service for University Students' from 12 last year to 50 this year and provide a monthly allowance of up to 200,000 won to senior students preparing for employment. A customized employment service for high school students has also been newly established.

With the general election three months away, as job policies such as the expansion of public institution jobs pour out, some criticize that this is done with the election in mind. Professor Park Ki-baek of the University of Seoul said, "It cannot be explained otherwise than that the government suddenly decided to do this ahead of the general election, rather than having chosen this (public institution job expansion) policy line from before, which clearly shows they are conscious of the election."