Spending of Add’l Budget to Create 550,000 Jobs

The government yesterday announced measures to create 550,000 jobs, including granting temporary jobs to 181,000 unemployed college graduates.

Around 7,000 youths will work as assistant instructors at colleges for six months from May at the earliest. Another 87,000 will undergo job training at colleges and universities.

Four-month internships will be introduced at elementary, middle and high schools to hire 25,000 college graduates from September. They will help remedial students or teach art and physical education courses.

The measures were announced as part of the government’s broad job creation plan utilizing the supplementary budget at an emergency economy meeting chaired by President Lee Myung-bak at Gwanak Vocational Competency Development Center in Seoul.

The government will draw 4.9 trillion won (3.5 billion U.S. dollars) from a supplementary budget of 27 trillion to 29 trillion won (19.3 billion to 21 billion dollars) and plan to get approval at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. The program will benefit 1,482,000 youths.

As a first step, 552,000 jobs will be created by utilizing 2.69 trillion won (1.93 billion dollars) immediately instead of waiting for the private sector to create jobs.

Along with the internships at public schools, youth internships at small and mid-size companies will be put in place to hire 37,000 young people, up 12,000 from the initial number. Smaller companies hiring youths as interns will receive from the government up to 70 percent of their wages for six months.

Two trillion won (1.4 billion dollars) will also be used to allow 400,000 economically active people from low-income households to take part in public service. They will earn a monthly salary of 830,000 won (595 dollars) in cash and consumption coupons.

State support for businesses participating in the job sharing campaign will also be expanded.

Subsidies for job retention will be increased from 58.3 billion won (41.8 million dollars) to 365.3 billion won (262 million dollars) for struggling companies that shun layoffs and instead retain staff via business suspension or job training.

To share jobs, 60,000 workers will go on non-paid leave after their companies suspend operations. They will get 40 percent of their average monthly salary for three months, and those hired by small and mid-sized companies will get 300,000 won (215 dollars) per month for a year.

On-campus job training for jobless college graduates and job counseling and training will be given at a cost of 158 billion won (113 million dollars).

To benefit an additional 375,000 jobless people, 1.6 trillion won (1.1 billion dollars) will go to unemployment compensation, which has seen an increasing number of claimants due to the unstable job market.

Ryu Seong-geol, budget director-general at the Strategy and Finance Ministry, said, “The successful implementation of both the measures and the supplementary budget is expected to directly and indirectly create around 600,000 jobs.”

cha@donga.com ceric@donga.com