Starting next year, young people who get jobs at small and midsize corporations in the Seoul metropolitan area will receive up to 4.8 million won in youth support funds. The government said it will expand the eligible recipients of the youth support funds under the Youth Job Leap Incentive from young people employed at small and midsize corporations outside the metropolitan area to young people at small and midsize corporations in the metropolitan area. The aim is to offset, through government support, the wage gap with young people employed by large corporations in the metropolitan area.
The Youth Job Leap Incentive is a subsidy the government pays to corporations that hire young people as regular employees and to the young people employed by those corporations.
On the 27th, the government announced a "youth job recovery plan" that includes these measures.
◇ Corporate subsidy eligibility widened to large corporations… job-seeking allowance also expanded to 650,000 won a month
The government said it prepared measures to create jobs for young people as youth employment indicators have recently worsened. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS), in the last month, the number of employed people ages 15 to 29 fell by 191,000 from a year earlier, declining for 45 consecutive months since November 2022. The youth employment rate also fell 1.6 percentage points to 44.2%, marking the 27th consecutive month of year-over-year decline since May 2024.
First, the government will expand the scope of support under the Youth Job Leap Incentive. For young people, the existing support provided up to 7.2 million won over two years to those employed at small and midsize corporations outside the metropolitan area, but the eligibility will be broadened to young people employed in the metropolitan area and the maximum cap will be increased to 18 million won. However, the cap will differ: 4.8 million won for young people employed in the metropolitan area, and 14.4 million to 18 million won for those in preferential regions.
The corporate subsidy provided to corporations will broaden its eligibility from small and midsize corporations to large corporations. Previously, up to 7.2 million won per year was provided if small and midsize corporations maintained employment for six months or more, but starting next year, large corporations will also receive up to 3.6 million won per year.
In addition, the "first-time employment support system for youth" will be introduced to expand eligibility under the National Employment Support Program to young people with no work experience, and the job-seeking promotion allowance will be increased from 600,000 won to 650,000 won per month.
◇ Create 300,000 jobs by 2030… "About 90,000 expected employment effect next year"
The government plans to create a total of 300,000 jobs by 2030, with 100,000 each in the private sector, public sector, and startups. It also plans to train more than 300,000 specialized workers in advanced and youth-preferred fields through vocational training programs. To that end, the government said it will train about 80,000 additional workers starting next year.
The government projected that about 90,000 jobs could be created next year. A senior official at the Ministry of Economy and Finance said, "Among trainees who complete vocational training programs, 52% succeed in finding jobs, and next year the number of people employed through this is expected to reach nearly 40,000," adding, "Private and public sector jobs are expected to increase by a net of about 50,000 next year compared to this year, so combined, the employment creation effect next year is expected to be roughly 90,000."