Gwangju Gyeongchong, Standing Tall as the Leading Regional Job Institution

The Gwangju Employers Federation announced on the 24th that it will promote the ‘Regional Job Total Package Project’ to resolve the ongoing manpower shortage issues faced by small and medium-sized enterprises in the local business community. This project includes employment matching, incentive support, organizational culture improvement, and customized consulting for employment retention.

Member companies of the Federation expressed that despite the challenging business environment this year due to high inflation, rising raw material costs, and sluggish domestic demand, securing talent is crucial to strengthening corporate competitiveness and pursuing new business ventures.

Accordingly, the Gwangju Employers Federation plans to expand its existing youth and middle-aged job matching and hiring incentive support programs, and provide one-stop regional job services through newly launched initiatives this year such as the Youth Growth Project and Joint Safety Manager Support Project.

The ‘Gwangju Regional Root Industry Support Project,’ which has been promoted since last year, provides companies hiring new employees aged 35 to 49 with a monthly support of 600,000 KRW for up to 12 months, totaling 7.2 million KRW. Additionally, while incentives were previously provided only to workplaces, this year support will be expanded to workers as well, with up to 3 million KRW for a maximum of 12 months.

Furthermore, by operating the ‘Middle-aged Tomorrow Center’ within the Gwangju Employment Center and Gwangsan Employment Center, the Federation offers total job services for middle-aged workers, including employment retention incentives from the Ministry of Employment and Labor for companies hiring middle-aged employees, life career design programs for current workers, and reemployment and job placement services for those nearing retirement.

This year’s new project, the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s ‘Youth Growth Project Workplace Adaptation Program,’ provides organizational culture and workplace etiquette training for young new employees who joined local companies, and customized education for managers on understanding the younger generation and leadership innovation.

The workplace adaptation program has seen high participation from companies, with over 470 participants currently, far exceeding the first half’s target of around 300, and it has been greatly helpful in encouraging long-term retention of new employees.

In addition, the Gwangju Employers Federation secured the ‘Joint Safety Manager Support Project’ as a new initiative this year to establish industrial safety and health systems for small-scale workplaces with 5 to 49 employees. This project offers customized consulting and develops industrial accident prevention measures, contributing to strengthening safety management capabilities of local SMEs.

Moreover, through the ‘Buk-gu Good Job Matching Project’ hosted by Buk-gu Office and the Gwangju Employers Federation, the project enhances corporate recognition by producing promotional videos of excellent jobs in Buk-gu and promoting them online and offline. It also supports job fairs, company exploration field trips for various job seekers, and certification acquisition for the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s work-life balance campaign.

The ‘Youth Job Leap Incentive Project,’ which has been promoted since 2022, will be further expanded this year to provide job incentives for up to 1,025 new job creation workplaces. This project supports up to 7.2 million KRW for one year when hiring youth aged 15 to 34 as regular employees, and provides a lump sum of 4.8 million KRW upon two years of continuous employment.

Yang Jin-seok, Chairman of the Gwangju Employers Federation, stated, “As a leading regional economic organization, we will listen closely to the employment issues faced by companies and propose various employment policies to ensure that hired workers can maintain long-term employment through active communication with the government and local governments.” He added, “In particular, to enhance the Federation’s status and expand membership, we will take the lead in protecting member companies’ rights, stabilizing labor-management relations, and promoting business interests.”