Incheon City to Create 163,000 Jobs This Year with 1.32 Trillion Won Investment

Incheon City will invest over 1.32 trillion won this year to create 163,000 jobs.

The city announced on the 2nd that following the creation of 158,000 jobs in 2023 and 162,000 jobs last year, both exceeding initial targets, it plans to create 163,000 jobs this year, aiming to achieve the 608,000 job target of the 8th term of the elected government ahead of schedule by the first half of next year.

Incheon recorded the highest economic growth rate nationwide at 4.8% last year and ranked 2nd in Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) among the eight special and metropolitan cities. The employment rate also ranked 2nd after Sejong, demonstrating outstanding performance across economic indicators.

However, despite this growth trend, the number of job sectors requiring support continues to increase due to economic downturn and sluggish domestic demand. To address this, Incheon City plans to continuously discover and supplement new job projects that respond to industrial structural changes and improvements in the job environment in cooperation with related organizations.

'4060 Job Fair' held last year at Incheon City Hall. Photo by Incheon City.

First, through fostering new growth industries, the city will create 16,987 "high value-added future jobs." To this end, it will expand workforce training using artificial intelligence (AI) and software (SW) technologies, foster the personal air vehicle (PAV) industry, develop a blockchain hub city, and spread the startup ecosystem by supporting bio companies’ overseas expansion and discovering and nurturing private-led startups.

The city will also prepare 20,390 "Incheon-type specialized jobs" to promote small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and create jobs tailored to local industries. In line with changes in the industrial environment, it will newly implement ESG (environmental, social responsibility, and transparent governance)-tailored corporate support, assist excellent companies in entering duty-free shops and registering local products for public procurement to foster local specialized industries. Through regional innovation projects, it will reduce employment environment disparities between large and small-medium enterprises and promote job matching projects for disabled workers in SMEs.

For unemployed youth, the city plans to create 22,597 "youth jobs" by expanding employment service packages such as certification exam fees and interview attire support, and providing a global scale-up campus and overseas advancement bases for young entrepreneurs.

Additionally, in preparation for the decline in the youth population and aging society, the city will expand senior jobs and social activity support, and newly launch childbirth and childcare support projects for small business owners to raise the birth rate, creating 91,100 "customized balanced jobs" across all life cycles including women, seniors, and middle-aged groups.

An official from Incheon City stated, "Jobs are a core task of the 8th term administration directly linked to regional economic growth and citizens’ quality of life. We will lead sustainable employment growth by fostering new growth industries and expanding regionally tailored jobs."