Hwaseong City Leads in 'Job Quality' in Gyeonggi Province

A survey has shown that Hwaseong City has the highest quality jobs in Gyeonggi Province.

Kim Eul-sik, senior research fellow at the Gyeonggi Development Institute, developed a comprehensive regional employment index using constituent indicators including employment rate, the proportion of permanent employees among wage workers, and the proportion of employers among non-wage workers to diagnose job quality, and released a report analyzing each region based on this.

According to the report, based on the comprehensive regional employment index from 2008 to 2010, Hwaseong City showed the best job quality in the province for three consecutive years. Osan City, Icheon City, and Gimpo City also ranked in the top 10 during the same period.

Four counties—Gapyeong, Yangpyeong, Yeoju, and Yeoncheon—showed high employment rates, but only Gapyeong County entered the top 10 in the comprehensive regional employment index last year. A high employment rate did not necessarily guarantee job quality.

Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) was identified as the factor with the greatest impact on job quality. As the per-capita GRDP of a region increases, job quality was found to improve.

This indicates that regional economic revitalization is the most important factor in addressing employment issues.

Additionally, the longer the commute time to Seoul, the lower the job quality was shown to be. The closer a region is to Seoul's economic sphere, the better the job quality.

Kim presented measures for forming a metropolitan economic zone through expansion of transportation facilities such as GTX and metropolitan buses as a solution.

Kim stated, "It was found that the higher the proportion of the population aged 65 and above and the proportion of female population in a region, the lower the job quality," adding, "In an aging society, expanding the elderly and female workforce is necessary to supplement insufficient labor, making preparations urgent."