"Expecting job expansion while squeezing businesses?"..Business community sighs only

"The business community strongly pointed out that expecting an expansion of job creation while the government tightens various regulations is absurd," they said. They explained that "real jobs" centered on young people can only increase when a business-friendly policy environment is in place.

"When the Lee Jae-myung administration took office last June, there was high expectation among businesses for 'pro-business policies.' President Lee emphasized in November last year that 'the government will do its utmost to minimize obstacles for entrepreneurs engaging in business activities,' asking, 'What is the meaning of calling something pro-business or anti-business?' This further heightened expectations.

"However, the business community points out that policies were actually pushed in the opposite direction," they said. A representative example is the "punish first" style strict enforcement by the Fair Trade Commission and others. It is analyzed that the excessive investigations and imposition of large fines by these bodies have contracted business activities, negatively affecting performance and causing employment to shrink.

"A senior official at a major domestic law firm said, 'Due to the Korea Fair Trade Commission's all-around investigations, companies are being forced to bow down,' adding, 'There is even talk that since there are so many excessive investigations, the Korea Fair Trade Commission will lose many administrative lawsuits later, making the law firms representing the companies in those lawsuits the ultimate winners.' He further added, 'If the Korea Fair Trade Commission's investigation bureau, once dubbed the "grim reaper of the business community," is revived as the Central Investigation Planning Unit next month, the corporate management environment will inevitably become even more contracted.'"

"Labor policies that are unilaterally unfavorable to companies are also hindering job creation. First, the implementation of the Yellow Umbrella Law (amended Labor Union Act Articles 2 and 3) has been identified as a problem due to increased business uncertainty. With the expanded scope of employers, many companies are struggling with indiscriminate demands for collective bargaining, and related response costs are swelling like a snowball."

"The statutory retirement age extension being pushed by the government and the ruling party also places a heavy burden on businesses. The business community worries that as more elderly workers benefit from retirement age extensions, youth unemployment will inevitably worsen. In fact, according to an analysis by the Bank of Korea, after the statutory retirement age was extended to 60 in 2016, for every one elderly worker added until 2024, the number of young workers decreased by 0.4 to 1.5. It is analyzed that with the seniority-based wage system maintained, extending the retirement age forced companies to reduce new hiring to cut costs."

"Companies explained that they are not choosing 'not to hire' employees but are unable to hire due to business contraction caused by various regulations," they said. Considering the increasingly fierce global competition for talent, businesses should be actively recruiting more than ever before; however, given the extreme uncertainty in management, they have no choice but to focus recruitment on 'density' rather than 'scale.' They pointed out that unless this situation is improved, expanding jobs will not be easy."

"A business community official said, 'Of course, hiring can be pursued regardless of regulations if businesses perform well, but the current situation is one where low growth has become entrenched. With various regulations added on top of this, it has become a structure that makes it difficult to increase jobs.'"