Youth, female employment needs boosting

Since its launch in 2013, President Park Geun-hye’s administration has put top priority on creating more jobs to achieve a goal of jacking up the country’s employment rate to 70 percent during her five-year term.

The budget earmarked to finance various job programs has risen from 10.8 trillion won ($9.4 billion) in 2013 to 15.8 trillion won this year.

Such an endeavor has resulted in a steady increase in the number of employees and the employment rate over the past years. As policymakers admit, however, young people and women are still excluded from the upward trend.

According to government data, the employment rate of people aged 15-29 stood at 41.5 percent last year, with the corresponding figure for elder persons amounting to 74.3 percent. Less than 56 percent of women aged 15-64 were hired in 2015, while 75.7 percent of men in the age group had jobs.

In a reflection of severe job mismatch and inflexible labor market, youth jobless rate has been on a continuous rise. It reached a record high of 12.5 percent in February before edging down to 11.8 percent in March, still the highest-ever figure for the month, according to the national statistical office.

Young people will have more difficulties landing jobs as many companies in the country are planning to cut employment this year to cope with deteriorating business conditions amid declining exports and slumping domestic consumption.

According to a survey of 336 local firms with 100 workers or more, released by the Korea Employers Federation on Tuesday, their planned recruitment for 2016 shrank by 4.4 percent from last year.

Political observers note discontent with worsening job conditions led more voters in their 20s and 30s to vote against ruling party candidates in the general election earlier this month. But the election outcome may not necessarily serve to ease their predicament as opposition parties -- which combined secured a majority in the 300-member parliament -- remain reluctant to pass reform bills needed to make the labor market more flexible and develop the service sector.

A main reason for the low female employment is that many women particularly in their 30s quit jobs when they get married and give birth because of difficulties balancing work with family.

The employment rate of 30-something women remained at 56.9 percent last year, compared with 59.5 percent and 65.7 percent for those in their 20s and 40s, respectively, according to Statistics Korea. Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed only 54.9 percent of Korean women aged 35-39 were employed in 2014, the lowest among its 34 members but Mexico and Turkey. The figure, which was far below the OECD average of 66.6 percent, also marked a drop from 57.7 percent in 2000.

The government Wednesday announced a set of measures that it hoped would help about 60,000 youths and women find work or move to better jobs.

Various programs tailored for job seekers will be implemented to widen access to detailed information on work opportunities, help college students early decide on their career and strengthen support for married female workers. Pregnant employees will be allowed to take maternity leave before giving birth.

Focus will also be put on encouraging more youths to work at small and medium-sized enterprises for longer. A young employee will be able to accumulate at least 12 million won in personal asset through a support scheme if he or she will have worked at SMEs for two consecutive years.

In time for the announcement of the measures, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, attended a consultative meeting with ruling party lawmakers and a debate with government policymakers and young job seekers to discuss ways to enhance the effectiveness of the support system.

“The latest measures are not the end but the beginning of our efforts,” said Yoo in his opening remarks to the debate.

He said the government would try to solidify the foundation for job creation by pushing through the enactment of structural reform bills designed to improve the labor market, promote the service industry and accelerate deregulation.

Massive layoffs that will possibly stem from the planned restructuring of debt-laden companies may lessen the urgency of boosting youth and female employment.

But experts say efforts should continue to be stepped up to keep more young people and women at work in order to avoid Korea’s economic vitality and growth potential being further undermined. They indicate it is particularly important to expand studying programs for young employees and establish conditions for the compatibility of work and family.

By Kim Kyung-ho (khkim@heraldcorp.com)