Last year, 71 public institutions, including Grand Korea Leisure, Seoul Arts Center, and Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation (KOBACO), failed to carry out the youth employment quota system. However, the 391 institutions that did comply newly hired 25,436 young people, the highest level in six years since 2019.
Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) on the 25th convened the "2026 first special committee on promoting youth employment" and reviewed and approved the "2025 results of public institutions' compliance with youth employment obligations."
The youth employment quota system, introduced in 2004, requires public institutions and local public enterprises to hire at least 3% of their annual headcount as unemployed young people ages 15 to 34.
According to the compliance results, 84.6% (391) of the 462 institutions subject to the requirement complied. This is an increase of 1.3 percentage points (12 institutions) from a year earlier. These institutions newly hired 25,435 young people last year, the largest number in six years since 2019 (28,689).
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), the number of noncompliant institutions fell for the second consecutive year. However, it remains high compared with 2019–2022. The ministry said, "A lack of capacity for new hiring due to management streamlining is a main factor."
The government plans to disclose the list of noncompliant institutions under the Special Act on the Promotion of Youth Employment, request that it be reflected in management evaluations, and submit the relevant details to the National Assembly to encourage compliance.
In particular, for public institutions that have repeatedly failed to comply in recent years, the government plans to hold youth employment compliance review meetings with the relevant ministries. It is also considering raising the weight of the youth employment obligation compliance metric in management evaluations.