On the 18th, it was tallied that 7 out of 10 people hired last year by public institutions outside the capital area were recruited as regional balanced talent. Regional balanced talent refers to students and graduates of universities in the provinces, and public institutions outside the capital area must hire at least 35% of new recruits as regional balanced talent under the Act on the Promotion of Local Universities. The number of regional balanced talent hired last year was at a level exceeding twice the legally mandated hiring ratio.
The Ministry of Education on this day announced the results of the survey, "2025 status of regional talent hiring," of 184 public institutions outside the capital area. According to the survey, the number of people newly hired last year by public institutions outside the capital area was 17,871, of whom 12,742 were hired as regional balanced talent. In total, 71.3% were hires of regional balanced talent. That was up 6.8 percentage points from the 2024 hiring rate (64.5%).
Of the 184 institutions, 181 met the mandatory hiring ratio for regional balanced talent. The remaining three (Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), Korea Development Institute (KDI), Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET)) did not, and were said to be institutions where regional talent resources are limited due to recruitment structures centered on specialized personnel.
The Ministry of Education said, "We will continue to recommend expanding the hiring of regional talent to institutions that did not comply with the mandate," adding, "We will operate the system, now in its third year, in a substantive way so it leads to the growth, employment, and settlement of regional talent."