Government Supports Social Activity Participation for 9,600 Youths Who Gave Up Job Seeking

Encouraging Job-Seeking Motivation and Labor Market Participation
Providing Participation Allowances and Employment Incentives

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 8th that the '2024 Youth Challenge Support Project' will be implemented in 72 local governments starting this month.

The Youth Challenge Support Project is a program that provides customized programs such as confidence recovery and job-seeking motivation enhancement to support the economic participation and labor market re-entry of youth who have given up on job searching. It is operated through a local government public contest system.

Since its pilot introduction in 2021, social consensus has increased, and the number of participating local governments grew by 350%, from 14 in 2021 to 49 last year. During the same period, the number of participating youth also increased by more than 216%, from 3,287 to 7,121.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, last year's participants reported that the Youth Challenge Support Project helped them achieve emotional stability and confidence recovery, and their psychological state and social relationships also improved positively.

This year, a total of 72 local governments will participate, providing customized services to 9,639 youth. Youth who find employment within six months after completing the challenge program and maintain employment for three months will receive an additional employment incentive of 500,000 KRW, and linkage with the National Employment Support System for Challenge Plus completers will also be strengthened.

Youth who have given up on job searching and wish to participate can apply by visiting the local government or project operating institution directly or through Worknet.

Lee Hyun-ok, Director of Youth Employment Policy, stated, "We will strive to manage the project operation to provide practical help to youth who have given up on job searching."