Ministry blog suggests cosmetic surgery to win jobs

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has been blasted for suggesting on its blog that people have cosmetic surgery to help land a job.

Student bloggers working for the ministry wrote the post. It was uploaded on Tuesday.

It showed a picture of the type of “face companies like,” provided by a cosmetic surgery clinic, and introduced the procedures job seekers want most for interviews.

The post was also uploaded to the ministry's Twitter account, which said: "An era where cosmetic surgery has become one of the seven credentials needed for employment? What type of face do companies actually like?"

The posts spread on social media, igniting controversy.

The ministry deleted them and issued an explanatory press release.

It said that the post concluded cosmetic surgery could not be the solution, and rather than rashly having procedures, job seekers should try smiling to make a good impression.

"We deleted the post, considering that the title could cause unnecessary misunderstandings and controversy as encouraging job seekers to get cosmetic surgery, unlike the original purpose of the story," the ministry said.

It would take steps to prevent a recurrence, it said.