Geumcheon-gu Employment Policy Melting the Youth Employment Freeze... Providing up to 500,000 Won 'Job Success Kit'

‘Employment Success Kit’ and ‘Youth Challenge Support Project’ Offer Practical Experience and Economic and Psychological Support
Job Center and Job Fairs Help Youth Explore Employment Opportunities

According to Statistics Korea, the number of unemployed youth aged 15 to 29 last month reached 269,000, an increase of 5,000 compared to 264,000 in the same month last year.

The prolonged employment gap period is more of an anxious time than a time for recharging for young people. According to the Korea Employment Information Service, youths who have experienced a break of more than one year cited economic and psychological burdens as the most difficult aspects during their break period. Furthermore, the less work experience they have, the longer their unemployment period, and the more unstable their past jobs were, the more difficulties they felt in finding employment.

Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yu Seong-hoon) is implementing various policies to expand employment and start-up opportunities for job-seeking youth and to provide economic and psychological support during their job search period. It assists young people who feel lost about where to start, how to prepare, and how to gain practical experience, from job exploration to actual employment support. It also supports companies that employ youth to promote employment and seeks a virtuous cycle in the local economy.

Economic and Psychological Support for Employment and Provision of Practical Experience

The district provides a ‘Employment Success Kit’ of up to 500,000 KRW per person to reduce the economic burden of youth preparing for employment. Benefits include up to 300,000 KRW for qualification exam preparation costs such as tuition, exam fees, and textbooks; up to 100,000 KRW for interview preparation costs such as suit rental; and up to 100,000 KRW for cultural healing expenses such as movie viewing and reading. After incurring job search expenses, applicants can receive the support funds in cash or as mobile local love gift certificates.

The ‘Youth Challenge Support Project,’ designed to boost the motivation of youth exhausted from long job searches, offers customized programs including psychological counseling, health management, career exploration, and employment competency enhancement. Last year, 90 participants completed the program, and this year, 120 participants are planned to be recruited.

The Youth Employment Academy Geumcheon Campus (70 Gasan-ro) operates field-oriented training courses reflecting corporate demand to support youth employment capabilities. Various educational programs are conducted to nurture software talents such as digital marketers, security engineers, and Android developers. After completing the training, a follow-up program actively connects companies and trainees to help them succeed in employment.

The district is newly launching the ‘Youth Growth Project’ this year, providing career counseling, employment study groups, and field-specific mentoring for unemployed youth. It also operates the ‘Youth Administrative Intern Support Project’ to enable youth to gain job experience in public institutions.

Youth Start-up Support, Customized Job Exploration, and Job Fair Hosting

At ‘Geumcheon Youth Dream Center,’ youth start-up companies are recruited and provided with spaces such as offices and a book caf? to focus on start-ups. In addition, start-up incubation programs, customized education, start-up competitions, and practical support such as intellectual property acquisition are offered to encourage youth challenges.

The Job Center located in the integrated civil service office on the first floor of Geumcheon-gu Office connects job seekers and employers to facilitate employment and provides employment information and counseling. The job counseling desk at the G-Valley Corporate Support Center manages recruiting companies through meetings with related institutions in G-Valley. In 2024, the Job Center conducted 9,279 employment consultations, 9,729 job placements, and 1,658 people succeeded in finding jobs.

Additionally, job fairs are held to provide a platform for companies to hire excellent talents and for job seekers to find customized jobs. From May 22 to July 31, the ‘Good JOB Festa’ online job fair is being held, and an on-site fair is planned for the second half of the year. Last year, the ‘Job Fair Toward My Job (JOB)’ was held with 37 companies participating, and 90 job seekers proceeded to the second round of interviews.

Benefits Granted to Excellent Employment Companies

The district implements the ‘Resident Employment Subsidy’ and the ‘Excellent Job Creation Company Certification System’ to ensure employment stability for residents and sustainable growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Small and medium-sized enterprises located in Geumcheon-gu that hire Geumcheon-gu residents as regular employees and maintain employment for more than four months receive the resident employment subsidy. After three months of employment, support of up to 3 million KRW is provided for up to six months starting from the fourth month’s salary. For employees working 40 hours per week, 500,000 KRW per month is supported. This year, the support target has been expanded to include employees working between 30 and 40 hours per week, who will receive 380,000 KRW per month for six months.

The ‘Excellent Job Creation Company Certification System’ certifies companies as excellent based on employment growth rate, hiring performance of Geumcheon-gu residents, and corporate welfare systems. Certified companies receive certificates and plaques and are given priority for Geumcheon-gu resident employment subsidies. They also receive additional points when participating in overseas fairs, advanced industry exhibitions, and applying for small and medium enterprise development fund loans.

Yu Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, “I hope that young people who have given up job searching due to continuous employment failures will use the support policies to regain the motivation to challenge once again. We will spare no effort to reduce the economic burden while young people explore jobs and prepare for employment so that they can find quality jobs.”