Korea: Promote inclusive growth through greater employer involvement in the employment and skills system, says OECD | WPN World People News

Korea has made significant progress towards decentralising the management of employment and training programmes, but can still do more to create stronger links with employers at the local level, according to a new OECD report

Employment and Skills Strategies in Korea – OECD Reviews on Local Job Creation underlines the importance of integrating employment and skills policies into local job creation and economic development strategies. It suggests that injecting flexibility into the design and implementation of employment programmes will help local communities attract the high-skilled workers needed to achieve inclusive growth.

The report was presented to Ki Kweon Lee, Minister of Employment and Labour, and Byung Soo Suh, Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, during a conference on local job creation in Busan, Korea, co-organised by the Ministry of Employment and Labour and the OECD. It describes the government’s recent efforts to promote greater local decision making through customised local job creation accounts as a good example of how to align skills development efforts with the needs of the labour market and strategic sectors of the economy.

The OECD draws attention to the significant labour market challenges facing women in Korea, which has a negative drag on overall economic development and competitiveness. While a number of efforts are underway to raise women’s participation, the report recommends that the government examine how to align employment and training programmes locally to remove potential labour market barriers, while supporting measures to create an effective environment for work-life balance.

The report, which includes case studies on local labour market policy initiatives in Bucheon and Busan, is part of an OECD series focusing on the role of employment and training agencies in contributing to job creation and productivity across 12 OECD countries or jurisdictions: Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Korea, Northern Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA.

Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development