Gyeonggi Province Creates Over 4,300 Public Jobs for Vulnerable Groups Affected by COVID-19

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province will work with 31 cities and counties throughout the province to implement a 'community job project' and 'regional disinfection job project' to address employment difficulties caused by COVID-19, creating over 4,300 public jobs.

To this end, the province plans to invest a total of 27.358 billion won, consisting of 11.044 billion won in national funds and 16.314 billion won in local funds for the year.

First, the 'community job project' aims to provide public jobs to vulnerable groups within the province to support their livelihoods and employment stability, while promoting community activation and sustainable regional development.

The project will be implemented in four types: local resource utilization, local business linkage, basic living support, and local space improvement. The 31 cities and counties will prepare a total of 207 projects such as village improvement and home repairs for vulnerable groups, creating 1,852 public jobs.

Project targets are residents of Gyeonggi Province whose household income for two or more people is 65 percent or less of the median income standard and have assets under 300 million won, or single-person households with income at 120 percent or less of the median income standard. Those under 65 years old will work up to 40 hours per week, while those 65 and older will work up to 25 hours per week.

The 'regional disinfection job project' is a new initiative this year that operates public jobs to prevent the spread of infectious diseases including COVID-19, strengthening regional disinfection capacity while supporting employment and livelihoods of employment-vulnerable groups.

Participants will conduct facility and equipment disinfection, fever checks and access control, physical distancing guidance, and disinfection rule inspections at multi-use public facilities. The province and 31 cities and counties plan to implement a total of 110 projects, creating 2,534 public jobs.

Project targets are employment-vulnerable groups in Gyeonggi Province who have experienced unemployment or business closure due to COVID-19. Working hours are set at 15-30 hours per week in principle, though participants can work up to 30-40 hours per week depending on job characteristics.

Wages for participants in the 'community job project' and 'regional disinfection job project' are set at 69,760 won per day (8-hour basis) based on the 2021 minimum wage (8,720 won per hour).

Given that the COVID-19 situation is prolonged and swift countermeasures are urgent, the province plans to establish a continuous cooperation system with cities and counties to encourage early recruitment in January and complete procedures such as job placement assignments.

Hyun Byeong-cheon, director of the Jobs and Economic Policy Division, said, "As this project is being promoted as an economic quarantine measure against COVID-19, we will actively work to support employment and livelihoods of vulnerable groups," and added, "We plan to focus on managing recruitment plans and schedules for cities and counties each week, and to make efforts toward early project implementation."

Recruitment schedules for the 'community job project' and 'regional disinfection job project' vary by city and county. Inquiries about the projects can be made to the job-related departments of the respective cities and counties.

Meanwhile, last year the province implemented the 'COVID-19 Overcoming Hope Jobs Project' and 'COVID-19 Overcoming Regional Jobs Project' with 31 cities and counties for vulnerable groups facing economic difficulties due to COVID-19, creating a total of 81,497 public jobs.