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[박영범 한성대 경제학과 교수] The employment report card for January this year is the worst. The number of unemployed people was 1.57 million, the highest in history, and the number of employed decreased by 980,000, which was the largest since 1998.
Despite the Corona 19, the government is admiring the economy well, but the employment statistics show the unfamiliarity of the Moon Jae-in administration, who claimed to be the job government.
Job disaster caused by Corona 19? It’s half right and half wrong. The increase in the number of employed people in 2018 was less than 100,000, and in 2019, the base effect increased to 300,000, the previous level.
In order to restore the Korean economy’s ability to create jobs, labor reform is needed. A compensation system based on job difficulty, competency and performance should be established. Excluding the production workers of large corporations protected by strong unions, due to the wage system that automatically increases wages according to their seniority, not only their 50s but their 40s are subject to restructuring.
Firms should be able to dismiss more smoothly. Since it is very difficult not only to fire for reasons attributable to companies, but also for business reasons, companies tend to go abroad or seek labor-saving production methods rather than increasing the number of people. Manufacturing sites in Korea have the highest number of robots per worker among OECD countries.
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Excessive employment security in the public sector, including public officials, should be more flexible. This is even more so in a reality where it is no longer possible to expect political neutrality, a prerequisite for employment security of public servants.
It is necessary to break through the dual and triple structure of the labor market segmented into regular workers in large corporations, irregular workers in large corporations, and small and medium-sized enterprises. Many young people avoid small and medium-sized businesses because of the practice of hiring full-time employees in large companies because of the practice of hiring new college graduates. It is necessary to widen the hiring ladder for experienced employees who have been recognized for their competence in small and medium-sized enterprises to move to large companies. By creating an employment structure in which workplaces are determined based on job competency rather than academic background, corporate competitiveness will be improved regardless of large companies and SMEs, leading to job creation.
‘Financial jobs’ created by the government through taxes should be announced separately from employment statistics. As long as policymakers are deceived by employment statistics ravaged by fiscal jobs, the real job countermeasures that people can feel in the field are far from being.
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Professor Park Young-beom? △Born in Seoul in 1956 △Bachelor’s Degree in English and Economics, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies △Master’s and Ph. Director of Korea Vocational Competency Development Institute △Chairman of Human Resources Development Service of Korea △Professor, Department of Economics, Hansung University