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A Study of the Conditions and Possible Improvements of Local Organizations and Projects for Senior Employment by the Autonomous Districts(Gu) of Seoul

Author: 
Min-Suk YoonㆍMin-chul ShinㆍJin-Young MoonㆍYoung-Joo LeeㆍSung-Su KimㆍByun, Angie

The city of Seoul is soon enter into Super-aged society in 2026. As the lifespan of the population continues to lengthen, the number of healthy elderly individuals is also increasing. Along with work environment changes caused by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the period of retirement from major jobs is also accelerating. According to Korea’s Economically Active Population Survey, 67.4% (962 million) of the elderly want to work in the future. When survey respondents were asked to give the main reasons for their desire to continue working, 58.8% mentioned the desire to add to their cost of living, and 33.8% cited the pleasure of working. In fact, the participation rate in economic activity for those aged between 55 and 64 years old measured at 69.7%, and the participation rate for economic activity for those aged between 65 and 79 years old measured at 31.6% (as of May 2020). The number of elderly people who want to work for various purposes, such as income security and social participation, is continuing to increase, and as the baby boomers enter the first stage of elderly life, the types of jobs they desire are also diversifying. Within this era of low birthrates and and greater numbers of aging individuals, creating a situation where the elderly population can stay longer in the labor market is a global phenomenon which reduces social costs while securing a larger workforce that is capable of production. As a result, Korea has also been establishing and implementing job policies for seniors. In addition to the elderly job program operated by the central government, the Seoul City Government is running a rewarding jobs program for retirees over the age of 55 (called ‘Boram Work’). Nevertheless, there is a limit to providing quality jobs, due to the dual structure between similar projects and a standardized job policy which focuses on a top-down method. In Seoul, detailed data on the current status of senior jobs by autonomous districts remains unreliable, the information on institutions that can provide senior jobs is insufficient, and cooperation between related organizations remains filled with bureaucratic challenges. Therefore, this study aims to discover how autonomous districts(Gu) currently address senior employment by analyzing regional surveys related to senior jobs, thereby establishing basic data which can be used to create strategies that will revitalize regional-based senior jobs. To this end, we conducted a survey on the basic status of autonomous districts, a survey on the operation of senior job support organizations and networks, FGI for senior job support agencies, and held expert advisory meetings in order to gather more reliable and useful data.