Choi urges public firms to adopt peak wage

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan urged public companies Wednesday to introduce the wage peak system as soon as possible, reiterating it would help widen employment opportunities for young job seekers.

In his meeting with 40 chiefs from the state-run agencies and firms, Choi said that “large (public) firms such as LH and the Korea Railroad Corp. should take the initiative in inducing the labor-management agreement on the wage peak system in August.”

Under this system pushed by the government and adopted by many companies, the retirement age has been extended to 60 from the current range of 53 to 58 and the paycheck for elderly workers slashed by about 10 percent over their last several years at work.

After the National Assembly passed a bill in April 2013 that would make it mandatory for the public sector to extend the retirement age to 60 or above from 2016, only 11 of the total 316 public firms had completed all the procedures to adopt the wage peak system as of last month.

While 90 firms are developing detailed processes, the remaining 215 are still at an early stage, according to the Finance Ministry.

Saying that the wage peak system is not an option but a requisite, Choi forecast that “its introduction in the overall public sector would lead to the creation of about 8,000 jobs over the next two years.”

The 11 public firms, which have already finalized the processes including approval of their board members, are considering hiring 200 young jobseekers collectively in the coming months.

Among the firms are the Korea Environment Corp., Korea Power Exchange, Korea Investment Corp., Korea Appraisal Board and Korea Southern Power Co.

The top economic policymaker instructed the remaining agencies to follow suit. He stressed that concessions are needed to settle down the social woes from the climbing jobless rate among the youth.

In addition, Choi cited the internship program offered by the Korea Electric Power Corp. as a model.

KEPCO said during the meeting that it has decided to expand the number of interns from the current 700 to 1,100 per annum over the next two years to work at the state-controlled agency and its subcontractors.

A recent poll by an online recruitment portal site showed that 72.3 percent of the surveyed 559 salaried workers said they supported the wage peak scheme.

Male respondents who welcomed the system outnumbered female workers 76.8 percent to 64.4 percent. In addition, senior workers were more favorable toward it than young respondents.

For the private sector, businesses with 300 or more employees are instructed to extend the retirement age to 60 or above from 2016.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)