In Korea, 5.5% of young people are in a "took a break" status, meaning they are capable of working but are not seeking jobs. To prevent prolonged unemployment among youth, the government plans to actively identify young people who are taking a break and recommend job and training programs.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor and related ministries on the 10th announced plans to push the "first step to a job guarantee program."
First, a nonemployed databases (DB) will be built for college graduates, high school graduates, and military service members. For them, consent to provide personal information "for the purpose of employment support" will be collected, and its consolidation with the employment insurance DB is planned. Using this information, officials can identify young people who have remained unemployed for a long time even after a certain period has passed "after college graduation," "after high school graduation," or "after military discharge."
The government will categorize them by type and have the Ministry of Health and Welfare handle the isolated and reclusive type, the Ministry of Education handle the path-disconnected type (unemployed after graduating from or dropping out of vocational high school), and the Labor Ministry closely mark the repeat dropout type (repeated job seeking and short-term employment).
The government will also prepare programs for young people who feel fear about social life. Ideas include operating a virtual company known as a "NEET Company." A NEET Company has participants verify online clock-ins and clock-outs and repeat a routine of completing self-set daily tasks. A Labor Ministry official said, "It was inspired by young people who used the 'Youth Challenge Support Program' saying that 'having a routine helps us gain the courage to seek employment.'"
In line with the hiring market's preference for experienced candidates, the government will also expand work-experience programs for youth. Corporations that create training programs linked to hiring, such as Hyundai Motor's "SoFtEer Bootcamp" and LG Electronics' "DX School," will receive incentives, including extra points on the co-prosperity index. The Labor Ministry will also strengthen its "K-Digital Training" (KDT) project to cultivate talent with capabilities to use artificial intelligence (AI).
Job-seeking allowances will also be expanded. Currently, people struggling to find employment receive a job-seeking promotion allowance of 500,000 won per month, but next year the amount will be increased to 600,000 won per month. The government will also push, in the year after next, a plan to provide job-seeking benefits to young people who are attempting to change jobs because their first job is not a good fit.
The government will also push for private recruitment platforms to list whether corporations have had occurrences of "wage arrears," "industrial accidents," or "workplace bullying," as well as their "short-term resignation rate." It will strengthen government support to make small and midsize companies places where young people want to work. Employers will receive subsidies if they convert fixed-term, dispatched, or specially employed workers to regular positions, and will be guided to provide basic working conditions such as "clean restrooms" and "heating and cooling equipment."
The government will also revise youth employment laws and systems, including raising the youth age under the Act on the Promotion of Youth Employment to 34 from the current 29 to improve consistency with other youth support programs.
According to the "August employment trends" released by Statistics Korea that day, the employment rate for people ages 15 to 29 has fallen for 16 consecutive months through last month. The number of people in their 30s in the "took a break" category reached 330,000, the highest on record.