"What About My Job When a Semiconductor Plant Opens?"... Gwangsan District Seeks Solutions at 'Concert'

Proposals for job creation measures, including a local talent hiring quota
Call for social agreements involving semiconductor companies
Review of three years of sustainable jobs policies and discussion of future priorities

"Can we work in the new jobs emerging in the semiconductor cluster?"

This was a question from a resident ahead of the Sustainable Jobs Concert held on November 11 by Gwangsan District in Jeonnam-Gwangju.

At the event, held that day at Yoon Sang-won Hall in Gwangsan District Office, the district reviewed the job policies it had pursued over the past three years and discussed ways to create local jobs linked to the semiconductor industry.

Gwangsan District Mayor Park Byung-gyu and attendees discuss sustainable jobs policy at the “Sustainable Jobs Concert” held at Yoon Sang-won Hall in Gwangsan-gu, Jeonnam-Gwangju, on the 11th. Provided by Gwangsan-gu.

The discussion was based on questions submitted online in advance by residents. Participants proposed measures including a local talent hiring quota and social agreements involving companies that operate semiconductor fabrication facilities (fabs). The results of the discussion were compiled into a "Citizens' White Paper" and delivered to Park Byunggyu, head of Gwangsan District.

At a discussion held earlier to mark the publication of the policy casebook "How Does Democracy Create Sustainable Jobs?", participants reviewed the citizen-participatory job policies pursued by Gwangsan District.

District Head Park, co-author Chae Junho, a professor at Jeonbuk National University, ecological activist Im Misuk, and young worker Jo Aron attended and discussed the policy development process and its significance.

District Head Park emphasized the importance of social dialogue involving direct citizen participation, saying, "Sustainable jobs are a policy for overcoming complex crises such as polarization, youth outmigration, and regional decline."

Professor Chae explained the policy process, which moves from a Green Paper compiling citizens' questions to a White Paper containing answers and then a Blue Paper outlining an action plan. He said, "Gwangsan District is becoming the first penguin to open a new path for job policy in South Korea."

Gwangsan District plans to carry out pilot projects through 2030 in areas such as youth housing support, care, the green transition, and village jobs, and to evaluate them every two years. It is also pursuing measures to establish a legal basis for creating a sustainable jobs special zone through the "Bill on the Promotion of Regional Employment," which is under discussion in the National Assembly.

District Head Park said, "I will do my utmost to bring hope for the future to local young people in the semiconductor era dawning in Gwangsan and to create good jobs that revitalize industry and the economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.