KOTRA to promote employment of vocational school graduates
Students participating in Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency's (KOTRA) 2019 program matching vocational high schools and SMEs pose in this undated file photo. Courtesy of KOTRA
By Nam Hyun-woo
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agecny (KOTRA) will promote the employment of vocational high school graduates at small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to help them address manpower shortages and boost the domestic job market.
According to KOTRA, Monday, it will continue an education program on free trade agreements and trade at seven domestic vocational high schools.
The program, celebrating its second anniversary, is aimed at growing the workforce for small and midsize exporting firms.
Last year, it was participated in by 102 students at five vocational high schools. Of them, 84 students found jobs at 76 companies. Buoyed by the successful outcome, the program has been expanded to seven schools this year.
The curriculum will be comprised of 65 hours of lectures, plus domestic and overseas field training. After this, students will apply for certificates on managing the provenance of goods and international trading. Companies which joined the program will interview these students and hire some of them.
KOTRA will also promote the program at multiple job fairs across the country to recruit interested companies.
“As students who completed last year's program quickly adjusted themselves to work, companies have shown a favorable responses,” a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy official said. “We are expanding the program this year.” KOTRA is a public company under the ministry's control.
KOTRA began receiving applications from interested companies Monday, and will accept them throughout the year.
Jobseekers complain of increasing difficulties in finding employment, yet at the same time SMEs are suffering from a manpower shortage.
According to a poll by the ministry, domestic companies said they needed 37,484 employees in industrial technology related jobs at the end of 2018, and 95.3 percent of these were at SMEs.
Citing this, the country's SME associations have been demanding the government to postpone applying the 52-hour workweek to them, because their employees have to work overtime to maintain output.
“KOTRA believes the education program will help SMEs to address their manpower shortage and allow more talented students to find jobs,” an official said.