New hiring law angers 30-somethings

By Jun Ji-hye

Parliament’s passage of a revision bill to expand the employment of young jobseekers has provoked a backlash from those in their 30s because the beneficiaries are limited to people between 15 and 29 years old.

The National Assembly approved the proposed revision to the Youth Employment Promotion Law on April 30.

Under the revised law, the number of newly-hired young jobseekers at public companies should be at least 3 percent of their total employees from 2014 for three years.

People in their 30s are reacting fiercely against the new revision because the Presidential decree defines youth as those aged from 15 to 29 years old.

“It feels like the new revision is killing the unemployed in their 30s,” said a Twitter user with the ID “ppot****.”

Another Twitter ID “Ahaxm******” said, “This is clear discrimination against the generation. It is as if the government forces people in their 30s to give up hopes, dreams and challenging spirits.”

Jobseekers aged over 30 said the revision clearly discriminates against them.

For example, 4,800 people are employed by state-run broadcaster KBS. When they recruit new staff next year, they must hire at least 144 youth to meet the 3 percent quota. Given that only 110 new employees were hired in 2011, job applicants aged over 30 would be technically barred.

One netizen posted a petition on Internet portal Daum's popular online forum Agora, saying, “It is a deprivation of rights and opportunities, which will result in making people over 30 scapegoats.” The petition calling for the revised law to be abandoned had been signed by almost 2,300 people as of Monday.

Some netizens claim that the law is more disadvantageous to male jobseekers as all able Korean men over 18 must serve in the armed forces for two years. They usually complete this in their 20s.

The law is also likely to adversely affect those on master’s and doctorate programs, or those who belatedly want to change their career path to work for public entities.

The revision, however, did not clarify any details of those specific cases.

Many online commentators bombarded the websites of Reps. Kim Kwan-young and Jin Sun-mee of the Democratic Party who proposed the revised bill. Some even claimed that they will stop supporting the main opposition party because it does not deserve to represent ordinary people.

With mounting criticism, Kim posted on his Twitter account: “I feel great responsibility as a person who proposed the bill. All people are equal before the law. I am aware that the most significant thing is to ensure equality of opportunity. I promise to solve the problems related to the revised law at the earliest possible date.”

He added he will review a way to urge the government to revise the presidential decree in order to change the age limit.