By Choi Kyong-ae
The government is considering adopting a "two strikes out" system for workers at state-invested public organizations under which they could be dismissed if they underperform for two straight years, the finance ministry said Monday.
"The Ministry of Personnel Management is likely to come up with guidelines which differentiate between workers later this year," Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said during a National Assembly inspection of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and other financial organizations.
He didn't elaborate on the planned guidelines.
The move is part of the Park Geun-hye government's efforts to restore lax and less profitable operations of public organizations back to normal.
The public organizations in question include the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank), the Industrial Bank of Korea, the Korea Development Bank, the Korea Investment Corporation and the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).
"As the government has yet to unveil the guidelines, we will wait and see what they are, and then we can give our official stance towards the two strikes out system," an official at Eximbank said.
An official at the KSD said the new system won't be received well by executives and employees of public organizations unless the performance review process is fair and transparent.
They both declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Analysts said the program could be derailed unless the next government takes it over from the Park administration with consistency and enthusiasm.
"Not surprisingly, there was not a single public official who was dismissed under the program introduced in 2006 to kick out underperforming public officials. Chances are high the two strikes out plan will take a similar course," Eugene Investment & Securities analyst Lee Sang-jae said.
Even in China, it is really hard to push forward restructuring of the public sector. The government needs to set up a long-term plan to restructure the sector in Korea, he said.
On Oct. 1, the Ministry of Personnel Management announced details of its renewed performance review standards for public officials.
For example, if a public official gets the worst grade twice in performance reviews, the official is subject to a committee hearing which decides on his or her continued employment. If the committee agrees to discontinue employment, President Park must give final approval to the decision.
Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae, the government and the ruling Saenuri Party plan to announce dismissal guidelines for underperforming general workers across the industries by December.
A strong protest is expected from unions as their workers are already suffering decreased wages under the peak wage system and job cuts as a result of consolidation or restructuring.
The peak wage system is a program aimed at providing more job security for senior employees through a gradual wage reduction. The financial burden for companies is reduced and, in turn, job security is guaranteed.
The government is considering adopting a "two strikes out" system for workers at state-invested public organizations under which they could be dismissed if they underperform for two straight years, the finance ministry said Monday.
"The Ministry of Personnel Management is likely to come up with guidelines which differentiate between workers later this year," Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said during a National Assembly inspection of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and other financial organizations.
He didn't elaborate on the planned guidelines.
The move is part of the Park Geun-hye government's efforts to restore lax and less profitable operations of public organizations back to normal.
The public organizations in question include the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank), the Industrial Bank of Korea, the Korea Development Bank, the Korea Investment Corporation and the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).
"As the government has yet to unveil the guidelines, we will wait and see what they are, and then we can give our official stance towards the two strikes out system," an official at Eximbank said.
An official at the KSD said the new system won't be received well by executives and employees of public organizations unless the performance review process is fair and transparent.
They both declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Analysts said the program could be derailed unless the next government takes it over from the Park administration with consistency and enthusiasm.
"Not surprisingly, there was not a single public official who was dismissed under the program introduced in 2006 to kick out underperforming public officials. Chances are high the two strikes out plan will take a similar course," Eugene Investment & Securities analyst Lee Sang-jae said.
Even in China, it is really hard to push forward restructuring of the public sector. The government needs to set up a long-term plan to restructure the sector in Korea, he said.
On Oct. 1, the Ministry of Personnel Management announced details of its renewed performance review standards for public officials.
For example, if a public official gets the worst grade twice in performance reviews, the official is subject to a committee hearing which decides on his or her continued employment. If the committee agrees to discontinue employment, President Park must give final approval to the decision.
Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae, the government and the ruling Saenuri Party plan to announce dismissal guidelines for underperforming general workers across the industries by December.
A strong protest is expected from unions as their workers are already suffering decreased wages under the peak wage system and job cuts as a result of consolidation or restructuring.
The peak wage system is a program aimed at providing more job security for senior employees through a gradual wage reduction. The financial burden for companies is reduced and, in turn, job security is guaranteed.
