Over 40,000 Members at Gangdong 50 Plus Center After 3 Years

Expanding User Age Groups and Operating Customized Support for Career Development and Life Planning for Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Exterior view of Gangdong 50 Plus Center.

Seoul Gangdong-gu (District Mayor Lee Su-hee) announced on the 11th that the cumulative number of members on the website of the Gangdong 50 Plus Center, operated directly by the district, has exceeded 40,000 within three years of its opening, showing high interest from the middle-aged and older population. This is an unusually rapid trend compared to other centers, with the number of members increasing by more than 57% compared to the previous year.

The Gangdong 50 Plus Center is the only center among Seoul's autonomous districts that is directly operated by the district, planning and running career development and life planning programs linked with 'Seoul Run 4050.'

The district attributed this growth to several factors: expanding the age range of educational courses to include people in their 40s, deploying professional counseling staff to provide systematic career planning and one-stop consulting, and focusing on customized educational programs specialized for the middle-aged and older population. In a recent job transition education program specialized for people in their 40s, participants even generated actual income, leading to word-of-mouth promotion. The proportion of the middle-aged population aged 40 to 64 in Gangdong-gu is about 40%.

At the Gangdong 50 Plus Center, a hub for education and job support projects for the middle-aged generation in Gangdong-gu, programs are divided into 'Life Planning' and '4050 Job Transition Education' to operate courses tailored to users' needs.

Kim Hee, head of the Gangdong-gu Education Support Division, said, "The unstoppable popularity of the Gangdong 50 Plus Center continues to drive the increase in membership," adding, "We will do our best to help the middle-aged feel the impact of our policies, support job stability and retirement preparation, and prepare for a brilliant second half of life."