"If you didn't apply to get a job and just wanted to pocket the money, here's how to do it."
This was a post recently uploaded to an online community under the title "Freebie guide (short for eating it for free)." The writer introduced tips on how to receive the "job-seeking promotion allowance," which is paid over a total of six installments by using the government's National Employment Support program. For the first installment, "you just need to have a consultation with a counselor," and from the second installment on, "watching lectures is also recognized as a job-seeking activity."
A government support program designed to help job seekers find employment is being shared on social media (SNS) as a way to "collect subsidies." Critics say it exploits a loophole in the system, which makes it hard to objectively discern a person's intention to find a job.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) on the 24th, the National Employment Support program is divided into two types. Among them, Type 1 targets job seekers whose income is at or below 60% of the median income and whose assets are at or below 400 million won. Starting this year, with the increase in the job-seeking promotion allowance, Type 1 recipients can receive 600,000 won per month for six months, totaling 3.6 million won.
To receive the job-seeking promotion allowance, for the first installment a participant must visit the Employment Welfare Plus (+) Center near their residence three times to receive counseling. From the second through the sixth installments, they only need to conduct at least two job-seeking activities each month.
The problem is that the scope of what counts as a "job-seeking activity" is broad, making it feel relatively easy. Attending a resume-writing or interview lecture at an Employment Welfare Plus Center or submitting an application to corporations is considered a job-seeking activity.
A 29-year-old office worker, a person surnamed Son, who used the National Employment Support program last year, said, "I did receive help, but the thresholds were so easy that many people around me used it as a way to earn pocket money."
Conversely, there are also unfair cases where job intention is judged mechanically. One participant said they received a warning text reading that their "intention to find a job is in doubt" after declining to join a corporations they had finally passed last month due to personal reasons.
There is also debate over the effectiveness of the consulting. With generative artificial intelligence (AI) handling resume writing and edits, the impact of in-person counseling is said to be limited.
A 27-year-old office worker, a person surnamed Kim, who used the program, said, "We live in a time when AI handles all resume edits, so how meaningful can a conversation of a few dozen minutes with a counselor be," adding, "The corporations they introduced were not so much tailored as mostly places you can find on job sites."
A person in the consulting industry also said, "I understand that rewards are needed to motivate participation, but I question whether consulting that does not take into account an individual's capabilities or circumstances is effective."
Participation in the National Employment Support program is also slowing. According to employment administration statistics, the number of participants in Type 1 of the National Employment Support program was highest in 2021, the first year of the program, at 340,218, and then plummeted to 218,664 in 2022. It then showed an upward trend with 227,663 in 2023 and 250,435 in 2024, before falling again last year to 222,177.
However, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) explained that since the job-seeking promotion allowance is fundamentally intended to stabilize the livelihoods of low-income job seekers, there are limits to tightening the requirements.
An official at the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said, "An individual's intention to find a job is largely subjective and hard to distinguish, and we lack the administrative capacity to grasp all the circumstances after support is provided."