Gyeongbuk Office of Education to Hire 24 Cooks and 298 Kitchen Assistants for School Cafeterias

The Gyeongbuk Office of Education (Superintendent Lim Jong-sik) announced on January 9 its "2026 First Half Recruitment Plan for Educational Public Employees (Culinary Staff)," which will hire a total of 322 people, including 24 cooks and 298 kitchen assistants who will work in school cafeterias.

This recruitment of cooks and kitchen assistants is the first to apply the "Customized School Meal Comprehensive Plan" announced by the Gyeongbuk Office of Education in June of last year, and it reflects improvements in the working conditions and treatment of culinary staff.

Gyeongbuk Office of Education

Through this comprehensive plan, starting in March 2026, the Gyeongbuk Office of Education will, for the first time in the country, convert the working arrangements for staff at schools serving two or three meals a day from non-working status during school vacations to year-round employment.

This change will affect 40.3% of all culinary staff and is expected to help alleviate the reluctance to work at schools serving two or three meals a day by ensuring stable pay even during school vacations. However, those who do not wish to work year-round will be allowed to transfer to schools serving only one meal a day.

In addition, the criteria for assigning kitchen assistants will be improved. The current assignment standard, which applies to schools with more than 301 students, will be adjusted from one assistant per 150 students to one per 130 students. As a result, schools with more than 500 students will have, on average, one additional kitchen assistant, and schools with more than 1,000 students will have, on average, two additional kitchen assistants. This is expected to help resolve staffing shortages at large schools with high meal service demand.

Meanwhile, the Gyeongbuk Office of Education will post the recruitment notice on the websites of the Gyeongbuk Office of Education and the 22 district education offices on January 12, and applications will be accepted from January 14 to January 20.

Lim Jong-sik, Superintendent of the Gyeongbuk Office of Education, stated, "In order to provide high-quality school meals, it is most important to ensure a stable employment environment for culinary staff working in cafeterias," adding, "As we are continuously working to improve the treatment of culinary staff, we hope for much interest and many applications."