Korea to increase hiring in public sector this year amid pandemic

Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom speaks during a meeting at the Government Complex Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap

Korea plans to increase hiring in the public sector this year, the vice finance minister said Friday, as the job market has been hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak.

Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom also said the government will hire more than 800,000 people in job posts that are created with fiscal spending in the first quarter.

"The government will increase hiring at public institutions this year to help younger people who have been frustrated with job seeking," Kim said at an economic meeting, saying that details will be disclosed later this month.

He also added the country plans to increase the number of state-backed job posts by 10 percent to 1.04 million this year to support the underprivileged hit by the pandemic.

The number of employed people in South Korea declined for the ninth straight month in November 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak continued to deal a blow to the job market. It marked the longest streak of job losses since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

The ministry said the number of employed people is expected to grow by 150,000 in 2021, a turnaround from estimated job losses of 220,000 last year.

Since taking office in May 2017, President Moon Jae-in has placed top priority on creating more jobs, with the government hiring more people in the public sector and expanding temporary job posts for those aged 60 and older.

(Yonhap)