Best Practices of Youth Employment Policies in Selected APEC Economies
| 35
1.5.7 Korean Apprenticeship
As Korea has entered a stage of economic stagnation, the unemployment of young people has
become a major social problem. In particular, the youth labor market in Korea has suffered
from a continuous cycle of a) mismatch between human resource and jobs, due to over-
education; and b) mismatch between industrial field and school education. Firstly, there is an
oversupply of college degree holders despite the limited availability of jobs, that demands
college graduates. Since young job seekers with high education attainment hope to start their
careers at major companies, the small firms inevitably experience a labor shortage. Thus, the
age of entering the labor market gradually increases, as they accumulate unnecessary
specifications to meet these high career expectations. Secondly, the vocational education in
Korea has long been operated by education and training organizations rather than being
centered on the industry, hence leading to a mismatch between school education and jobs in
the industries (MoEL, KRIVET, & HRD Korea, 2016).
The Korean government paved the way for a new education and training system by spreading
the Korean Apprenticeship (in another term, being called as Work-Study Dual System), a
Korean-style apprenticeship training system introduced in 2013. In 2015, the Work-Study Dual
System, which had been implemented mainly for graduates, was expanded into formal
education courses available to students still attending high schools, junior colleges and
universities, focused on the 'Apprenticeship system' as one way of overcoming youth
unemployment, as well as to effectively match the skills development and skills utilization
(Ministry of Employment and Labor & HRD Korea, 2016). In the Korean apprenticeship
system, apprentices receive practical training from an in-company trainer, while receiving
theoretical education through a school on the basis of the NCS.
As of October 2016, 8,345 companies are participating in apprenticeship programs; and 25,864
apprentices from 5,468 companies are either undergoing training or have completed their
training. Recently, the promotion of initiatives, such as the apprenticeship high schools, Uni-
Tech and IPP (Industry Professional Practice) apprenticeship, have expanded the
apprenticeship target participants from the existing graduates (new workers) to include
currently enrolled students.
To sum about the total cost items of apprentice, participating company spends an average of
51,380 thousand KRW (Korean Won) annually, which means the company spends an average
of 33,530 thousand KRW on one apprentice. Annual cost per apprentice shows a stable trend,
with a total of 33,530 thousand KRW in 2015, 30,520 thousand KRW in 2016, and 31,340
thousand KRW in 2017. This indicates that the cost of the apprenticeship was expensive at the
beginning of its introduction but is now kept at a stable level after the system has settled (Jeon,
Kang, Lee, Chang, & Jeong 2015).
According to the analysis of the benefits of apprenticeship, participating company obtains on
average about 131,490 thousand KRW annually, which means the company obtains an average
of 29,130 thousand KRW per apprentice. There is a significant gradual increase in the annual
benefit per apprentice, whereby the total benefit amounts to 29,130 thousand KRW in 2015,
36,480 thousand KRW in 2016, and 44,130 thousand KRW in 2017 (Jeon et al., 2015).