By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Seoul Metro, which runs subway lines Nos. 1-4, said Monday that it will shed 2,088 jobs, or 20.3 percent of its payroll, by 2010.
The plan is in line with the city government's plan to cut its own number of jobs by 3 percent, as well as in accordance with the incoming Lee Myung-bak government's aim for ``small and efficient'' government.
The reduction will be made through retirement or transfer of workers to subsidiaries, agency officials said. Seoul Metro also plans to set up more affiliates, send its employees there, and outsource repair and maintenance work from them.
``We'll also raise productivity by 20 percent by improving personnel management, such as adopting incentive systems,'' an official said.
``We had problems in management and the civil service, with a total operational deficit amounting to 5.2 trillion won. Through personnel management reform and other profitable projects, we plan to reduce the debts by 22 percent by 2010,'' he said.
The reduction plan comes after Seoul City asked five city-run companies, including Seoul Metro, to cut the number of jobs by 10 percent.
Such a move is in line with the incoming government's scheme to reorganize and rationalize government agencies.
Yonhap News earlier reported that the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, which is in charge of civil servants' personnel affairs, reported to the transition team that it would cut its payroll by 1 percent annually for the next five years.
Yonhap said that 6,000 jobs at central government will be cut every year, totaling 30,000 during the five years, adding the number may reach 60,000 considering retirement and the plan to decrease recruitment.
But the ministry and the transition team denied the report. ``The report is not true,'' the transition team said in a statement.
Still, ministry officials say a certain level of payroll cut may be inevitable, as ministries are merged and their sub-organizations will be restructured.
The number of civil servants reached 950,000 as of December 2007 ― among them, 590,000 are workers at central government, while the others belong to local governments. The Roh Moo-hyun administration increased the number by 61,000 over the last five years.
But the plan is drawing a backlash from civil servants. The Korean Government Employees' Union said on its Web site that the government reorganization plan is ``disastrous.''
``We'll take an all-out struggle if the `bulldozer-like restructuring' leads to massive dismissal of low-ranking public servants,'' the union said.