Stalled labor talks prompt South Korea to ask citizens for job market solutions

The Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC) in South Korea is seeking new avenues to break through labor-management impasses, turning to the public for insights. On a sweltering day in Seoul, ESLC Chairman Kim Ji-hyung met with four citizens representing different generations to discuss "Demographic Changes and Jobs." Simultaneously, other citizens engaged in "Vivid Job Dialogues," pairing up to "glimpse each other's worlds" through conversation.

Kim explained that this direct engagement with citizens was intended to "stimulate stalled labor-management talks, which are stuck in a deadlock due to sharp conflicts of interest." The 90-minute session, moderated by Kim, featured a 20-something job seeker, a 40-something woman experiencing career interruption, a 50-something woman who took early retirement, and a man in his mid-60s. They shared their work experiences and opinions on employment policies.

Kim Jong-jin, 25, who flew from Busan to represent young job seekers, asked Kim Ji-hyung about the reasons for youth unemployment. The chairman cited "job shortages, disparities, and fairness in hiring." Kim Jong-jin emphasized disparity as the main issue, stating, "Young people inevitably prefer large corporations due to reasons like wages, working conditions, and training environments, but the number of young people who can apply to large corporations is very limited." He urged for policies that "guide young people to consider small and medium-sized enterprises." He also requested attention for "non-metropolitan youth and high school graduates," pointing out that the problem is not "unfair hiring procedures" but the reality that young people "cannot even access job opportunities at all."

Jeon Hyo-eun, a 40-something working mother of two, experienced career interruption after childbirth and now manages social welfare projects at an NGO. She works full-time, balancing work and childcare, and revealed she paid 13,000 won per hour for childcare to attend the dialogue, while earning 17,000 won herself. Jeon criticized the trend of increasing parental leave, saying it "lengthens the time of social isolation, making it difficult to return to work." While stable public institutions might allow parental leave until a child is in second grade, she noted that for most, extended leave makes returning to work harder. This highlights a "disparity" in parental leave and return-to-work support for working mothers. She advocated for expanding flexible work arrangements like "6-hour reduced workdays" and "remote work."

Bae Seong-ja, a 50-something who spent 26 years in advertising, is preparing to transition to a facilitator role. After experiencing career interruption due to childcare, she returned to work in her mid-40s when her former advertising agency needed a replacement for an employee on maternity leave. She worked four days a week for about half her previous salary. When the employee on leave eventually resigned, Bae continued working. She proposed, "Let's institutionalize support for 50-something women to work as replacement staff for 30-40s on parental leave, even for just a year." The idea of intergenerational synergy, where the rich experience of "senior interns" benefits younger generations, similar to the movie "The Intern," seemed to be slowly materializing.

Song Jun-mok, 66, currently works as an intern at a small and medium-sized enterprise with support from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the 50Plus Foundation. After a long career at a foreign IT company, he was forced into early retirement at 50 due to the IT bubble. He was confident about re-employment with his certifications, but faced rejection from over 50 companies. His daughter remarked, "Will companies hire you when the team leaders are in their 30s and 40s?" He stressed that society needs to "more actively utilize the skills and experience of older people," adding, "It's not about taking away young people's jobs, but society needs various support to utilize the careers of the elderly."

Interestingly, the issue of mandatory retirement age, often seen as a point of intergenerational conflict, showed little temperature difference among participants. Bae Seong-ja mentioned a Samsung Electronics acquaintance who considered early retirement but decided against it, wanting to work longer if the retirement age were extended. However, Bae noted, "The benefits of extending the retirement age are concentrated in large corporations and public institutions. For employees of small and medium-sized enterprises, where retirement before the official age is common, it's irrelevant."