'Job Market Injection': Employment Ministry Budget Rises by 1.6 Trillion Won... National Employment Support Expanded to 55,000 More People [New Government Supplementary Budget]

Ministry of Employment and Labor Allocates 1.5837 Trillion Won in Second Supplementary Budget
Accounts for 8% of Total Extra Budget... Larger Than the First Round
Lower Interest Rates for Wage Arrears Loans... 1 Percentage Point Cut for Employers

As concerns over the job market grow due to the economic downturn, the employment authorities have allocated a supplementary budget (extra budget) for programs that support the unemployed and job seekers. Approximately 1.3 trillion won will be invested to increase unemployment benefit support, and an additional 170 billion won will be injected for livelihood support and tailored employment assistance. In efforts to increase job opportunities for young people, the government plans to further expand the budget to enhance vocational training and hold job fairs in regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area.

On June 19, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that a total of 1.5837 trillion won had been allocated to its sector in the 30.5 trillion won 'New Government Supplementary Budget (draft)' approved at the Cabinet meeting. This figure consists of 257.5 billion won from the general and special accounts and 1.3261 trillion won from funds, accounting for about 8% of the total supplementary budget. In comparison, the ministry's budget increased by 280.3 billion won in the first supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly last month, making the scale of the second supplementary budget more than five times larger.

A total of 10 projects under the Ministry of Employment and Labor will see increased budgets through this supplementary budget. Funding for job creation projects has been increased to strengthen the employment safety net and expand job opportunities for young people. Budgets have also been increased for projects aimed at supporting vulnerable workers, such as those with unpaid wages, low-income workers at small businesses, and workers at workplaces vulnerable to heat waves. However, the budget for one project, the Skilled Technology Promotion Project, was reduced by 9.2 billion won due to unused funds resulting from construction delays at the Yeongnam Region Skilled Technology Promotion Center.

28 Billion Won Invested to Support High School Students and Young People

As concerns over rising unemployment benefit claims in sectors such as construction and manufacturing grew, the government decided to inject an additional 1.2929 trillion won into the unemployment benefits budget. Unemployment benefits are part of the employment safety net program that provides job-seeking allowances and other support to those who actively seek reemployment after involuntary job loss. As a result of this supplementary budget, the number of additional beneficiaries will be 187,000, bringing the total number of people eligible for support this year to 1,798,000.

The government will also increase the number of beneficiaries of the National Employment Support System, which provides livelihood support and tailored job assistance to vulnerable groups not covered by employment insurance, and will allocate an additional 165.2 billion won to create new specialized categories for industries such as construction. The number of additional beneficiaries from this supplementary budget will be 55,000, of which 10,000 will be in specialized categories. In total, 360,000 people will receive support from the relevant programs this year.

In efforts to expand job opportunities for young people, the focus will be on supporting high school students and young people seeking jobs or already employed. To expand customized vocational training (general high school specialized training) for third-year general high school students who are motivated to find jobs early, 16 billion won has been included in the supplementary budget. The number of beneficiaries will increase by 1,820, bringing the total number of recipients this year to 7,000.

To increase job opportunities for young job seekers in regional areas and address job mismatches, the government will also organize job fairs and employment programs in regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area. An additional 2 billion won has been secured for this purpose. The job fairs are scheduled to be held in the second half of the year in five major metropolitan areas, including Jeolla and Chungcheong, through cooperation between the central government and local governments.

The government will also expand consortium training programs that provide high-quality vocational training to young people who are either about to be hired by or are currently working at regional small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Consortium training refers to programs where large companies and universities form consortia with SMEs to jointly provide training to SME workers, who often lack adequate training resources. The supplementary budget allocated for this purpose is 10.1 billion won.

Wage Arrears Loan Support... Duru Nuri Funding Increased by 25.8 Billion Won

As wage arrears continue to rise this year, the government has included 8.1 billion won in the supplementary budget as a countermeasure. However, since the budget was already increased in the first supplementary budget, this time the focus is on lowering the interest rate and expanding the scale of wage arrears settlement support loans to enable faster relief for affected workers. For a temporary period of three months, business owners with wage arrears (2.7%) and workers (1%) will benefit from interest rate reductions of 1 percentage point and 0.5 percentage points, respectively.

In the process of expanding support for social insurance premiums (Duru Nuri) for low-wage workers at small businesses, 25.8 billion won will be invested. Duru Nuri is a program that subsidizes 80% of social insurance premiums for low-wage workers and artists at businesses with fewer than 10 employees. In addition, 15 billion won has been allocated in the supplementary budget to expand support for heat illness prevention equipment, such as portable air conditioners, to prepare for heat waves.

Following a Supreme Court ruling in March that changed the criteria for pneumoconiosis consolation payments, an additional 45 billion won will be invested to cover the difference in consolation payments for affected individuals. As a result, the number of beneficiaries will increase by 2,308. Pneumoconiosis consolation payments are provided not only for accidents and disabilities but also for bereaved families, to support the livelihoods of workers and their families who have contracted pneumoconiosis from dust-related work in the mining industry.