Jang Kijong Recruiting Companies to Join Work Assistant Service for One-Person Enterprises Run by People with Severe Disabilities

Recruiting Around 80 Companies
Applications Accepted Until March 13

The Disabled Enterprise Comprehensive Support Center (Jang Kijong) announced on the 24th that it is recruiting around 80 one-person enterprises run by people with severe disabilities to participate in its Work Assistant Service.

Exterior view of the Disabled Enterprise Comprehensive Support Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jang Kijong

The Work Assistant Service is a program that provides personnel to carry out a variety of tasks necessary for business operations, such as product packaging, administrative assistance, mobility support, and document organization. The aim is to resolve management difficulties faced by one-person enterprises run by people with severe disabilities and to support their stable business activities. The legal basis for this program was established through the 2023 amendment to the Act on the Promotion of Activities of Enterprises by Persons with Disabilities, and it was operated as a pilot project for two years from 2024 to 2025.

Starting this year, a regular budget will be allocated to expand the scale of support, and an education program for training Work Assistants will be newly introduced, so that a more advanced service can be provided. The program will support around 80 companies, with assistance available for up to 8 hours per day and within 5 days and 40 hours per week.

Eligible applicants are one-person enterprises that have no employees and are represented by a person with a severe disability, and that have been issued a Certificate of Enterprise by Persons with Disabilities in accordance with Article 11-2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Promotion of Activities of Enterprises by Persons with Disabilities. The Certificate of Enterprise by Persons with Disabilities can be applied for and issued via the official website of the Public Procurement Comprehensive Information Network.

Companies wishing to participate can apply through the Jang Kijong official website until March 13. Participating companies will be selected in March through a document-based evaluation, using criteria such as years in business, necessity of support, excellence of utilization plans, and effectiveness of support. The selected companies will be able to receive the Work Assistant Service from late April through December.

As of 2023, there were 8,802 one-person enterprises run by people with severe disabilities, and their number has shown an average annual increase of 14.4% over the past five years. Due to severe disabilities, many of these business owners face difficulties in management activities such as customer service and performing administrative work, and therefore on-site demand for the Work Assistant Service continues.

Park Maru, Chairman of the Disabled Enterprise Comprehensive Support Center, said, "By promoting the Work Assistant Service as a regular project starting this year, we have been able to realize a long-cherished wish of one-person enterprises run by people with severe disabilities, which is highly meaningful," adding, "As this is the first year of the regular project, we will closely examine any areas that need improvement in the course of service operation and will continue to communicate with the National Assembly and the government to further expand the service in the future."