PROVIDING JOBS TO ALL WALKS OF LIFE

[Anchor Lead]

Efforts are underway to increase jobs for young people and retirees. At the same time, a social agency is making more jobs available even for people with disabilities and giving more support to small culture and art groups so that a wider range of people can have jobs.

[Pkg]

This small company manufacturing CCTV and LAN cables was established four years ago. Seventeen employees, half of its workforce, have disabilities. The firm plans to hire about 10 more such workers this year. For hiring more women as well as disadvantaged members of the community, the company received ping-pong tables and other sports equipment as well as a subsidy to improve work environment. Such recognition and support helped boost workers' job satisfaction.

[Soundbite] OH SANG-ROK(CEO, SOCIAL ENTERPRISE) : "There is a program that involveds purchasing our products. That program helps us greatly."

A small event took place inside the plant of a mid-sized company. It featured a folk song concert, b-boy dancing, and a magic show. The event gave workers, who rarely had time to catch such performances, a chance to take a break and enjoy the cultural experiences. It's a win-win as the struggling artists got a venue to perform and get paid.

[Soundbite] PARK TAE-SEUNG(CEO, FOLK GROUP ARISU) : "We now have a chance to perform at factories. This is a great system that works for our team."

Improved work conditions at companies that hire disabled people and more exposure for small culture and art groups are all made possible thanks to the Job Foundation. The foundation designed a wide range of job policies tailored to different age groups and social classes and oversees the entire employment process, from finding new jobs to educating and re-employing workers.

[Soundbite] YANG DONG-GYUN(GYEONGGIDO JOB FOUNDATION) : "We regard social enterprises as the engines of job creation and provide them assistance in management and financial issues."

In addition, a job platform called Jobaba, which has 820,000 members and 190,000 pieces of employment information, is providing more opportunities for both job seekers and startups.