Decision to benefit 1,000 employees; cost expected to reach 6.2 billion won


The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday they would make city staff on temporary contracts permanent hires as part of efforts to improve job security and secure access to employment benefits.

A total of 1,054 staff on temporary contract who have worked for the past two years or longer will be granted permanent status in May, according to officials.

Their contracts will have unlimited duration and include benefits such as pension, bonuses and overtime pay, they said.

“The conversion of temporary workers to permanent status is restoring common sense in the labor market. This is the first step we have taken to achieve a society where workers are not fired because of their temporary status,” said Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon at the press conference.

The conversion of workers’ status was one of Park’s election pledges.

Social activist-turned mayor has emphasized the welfare of the underprivileged since he took office last October.

According to city government figures, more than 34 percent of about 3.8 million workers in Seoul are on temporary contracts.

Of them, about 57 percent work less than a year and are paid less than half of what permanent workers are. Less than half of them receive benefits such as pension, health insurance and overtime pay.

There are 2,916 city staff working on temporary contracts in the city government and affiliates of the municipality.

“Temporary workers have increased in number greatly because they cost less and let businesses respond to the market’s ups and downs. But we will soon lose such flexibility and effectiveness unless we give them job security and continuity,” said Park.

Park said he will change the status of other temporary workers to permanent hires in the near future based on the recommendations of ongoing policy research.

But observers point out that the policy will impose more of a financial burden on the municipality, which already assigned a greater budget to welfare this year, and hinder labor mobility.

The cost of converting the staff’s status is expected to reach 6.2 billion won ($5.5 million).

But Park said the number of temporary workers has increased to a point which threatens the economic and social development of Korean society.

“Hiring more temporary workers might have helped in saving some costs and creating labor flexibility, but I see it failed to secure labor quality and took away enthusiasm and passion from workers, which will undermine the overall effectiveness of the labor market,” said Park.

He said the city government’s move will encourage a change in the private-sector labor market as well.

“We also hope it will become the start of change in the private sector,” Park said.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)