Acting Prime Minister Choi Presides Over Livelihood Economy Meeting on Employment Sector
The government plans to increase direct jobs to a record high of over 1.2 million by next month and swiftly execute 7 trillion won in social overhead capital (SOC) budgets and 17 trillion won in public institution investments. Viewing the first quarter of this year as a critical turning point for the recovery of the livelihood economy, it aims to gather momentum to overcome sluggish domestic demand through job creation and public investment execution.
On the morning of the 14th, the government held a 'Livelihood Economy Inspection Meeting' at the Korea Employers Federation building, chaired by Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok. The meeting announced support measures for vulnerable sectors' jobs. Attendees included Sohn Kyung-shik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, Choi Jin-sik, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Medium-sized Enterprises, and Kim Moon-soo, Minister of Employment and Labor.
The government first decided to create over 1.2 million jobs, the highest ever, within the first quarter through rapid recruitment of direct jobs by the central government and local governments. It plans to hire 2,800 staff for Neulbom Schools early this month and recruit 500 aviation safety personnel such as air traffic controllers and maintenance workers within the year, expanding essential service personnel closely related to citizens' daily lives.
Additionally, it plans to support the construction industry through the rapid execution of a total of 24 trillion won, including 7 trillion won in SOC budgets and 17 trillion won in public institution investments during the first quarter. Following exports, investment, and consumption, concerns about sluggish domestic demand are growing as employment indicators deviate from a favorable trend. According to the 'January Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the day, the number of construction workers decreased by 169,000 last month, marking the largest decline since related statistics began in 2013. The number of manufacturing workers also fell by 56,000, continuing a seven-month decline since July last year.
Acting Prime Minister Choi said, "The decline in employment in major industries such as construction and manufacturing continues, and difficulties for vulnerable employment groups such as youth are intensifying. From this year, the decrease in the working-age population will act as a structural downward factor for employment, making future employment conditions challenging."
He emphasized, "Jobs are the source of household income and the driving force for corporate growth, so it is the most important economic policy to keep the growth engine of employment open," adding, "The government will do its utmost to create even one more good job by joining forces with the private sector to secure a turnaround momentum for the livelihood economy."
Customized employment services for vulnerable groups such as youth and middle-aged people will also be strengthened. For youth, the Youth Employment All-Care Platform will be fully launched from next month, and a joint public-private Korea Job Fair will be held. Specialized programs will be supported for small business owners who wish to find employment after business closure, and plans to expand the number of days for unemployment benefits for self-employed people aged 50 and over are also under consideration. The government plans to prepare and announce a 'Plan to Strengthen Active Employment Support Policies' including vocational training and employment services within next month.
Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo said, "In cooperation with related ministries, we will swiftly promote SOC finances in the first half of the year targeting a record high of 70%, linking it to job expansion in the construction sector, and expand major support measures from the 'Construction Industry Job Support Plan' announced last August," adding, "We will discover and announce additional tasks for employment improvement such as reemployment support for construction workers soon."
Before the meeting, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Ministry of SMEs and Startups held a 'Public-Private Job Creation Support Agreement Ceremony' with six economic organizations and signed a public-private business agreement defining necessary cooperation for creating quality jobs.
In this agreement, economic organizations pledged to actively cooperate in laying the foundation for job creation by expanding the scale of new hires and advancing the hiring period to the first half of this year as much as possible. The government will establish a hotline (employment difficulty resolution cooperation system) with economic organizations to support measures to resolve on-site employment difficulties faced by companies.
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