Youth Job Leap Incentive Expanded in Supplementary Budget... 107,000 Including Graduating Students to Receive Support

Project Budget Increased from 777.2 Billion KRW to 802.6 Billion KRW
Early Payment of Retention Incentives at 6 and 12 Months

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 13th that it has included additional funding for the Youth Job Leap Incentive in the first supplementary budget for this year, in response to the recent increase in economic uncertainty and the slowdown in new corporate hiring.

Provided by Ministry of Employment and Labor

The Youth Job Leap Incentive is a program that provides support to small and medium-sized enterprises that hire young people facing employment difficulties, as well as to young people employed in industries with labor shortages such as manufacturing. The budget for the expanded program has been set at 25.4 billion KRW, increasing the annual budget from 777.2 billion KRW to 802.6 billion KRW.

With the increased budget, the number of beneficiaries this year has also grown. Previously, the program targeted 100,000 young people, but it has now been decided to include university students who are about to graduate, supporting an additional 7,000 individuals. The Ministry explained, "The current youth employment situation is becoming more challenging, and companies are increasingly preferring experienced workers," and added, "We took into account the difficulties young people face in entering the labor market."

In particular, for industries with labor shortages such as manufacturing, the supplementary budget will allow for early payment of youth retention incentives, providing support to both young job seekers and companies. Previously, these incentives were paid at 18 and 24 months of employment, but they will now also be paid at 6 and 12 months.

Hong Kyungi, Director of Youth Employment Policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stated, "We will provide a variety of employment support services that young people preparing for employment can utilize," and added, "Even after employment, we will continue our efforts to help young people remain with small and medium-sized enterprises for the long term and grow into mid-level managers by offering retention incentive support and workplace adaptation training."