Chaebol Face Penalty for Hiring Irregular Workers

The government plans to impose penalties on conglomerates hiring a high portion of people as irregular workers. They will also need to meet certain conditions to be allowed to hire them.

These measures are part of plans announced by the presidential jobs committee Thursday.

"President Moon Jae-in's economic policy starts with jobs and ends with jobs. We will focus on restoring the virtuous circle of growth, jobs and distribution, putting priority on quality job creation and changing the economic and social system to be job-friendly," said Lee Yong-sup, vice chairman of the committee.

President Moon has stressed that economic growth can only be achieved when households have more income for spending.

"Within 100 days since President Moon's inauguration, we will reorient the government system in a way that concentrates on job creation. We will accelerate projects that the government can complete by itself. For projects that need a long-term perspective, we will set up five-year roadmaps," he said.

The main task of the committee is to accelerate the conversion of irregular jobs to regular ones. President Moon has pledged to get rid of all irregular jobs in the public sector.

A task force will devise a blueprint after analyzing the matter. Regarding the private sector, the committee said it will consider levying a financial penalty on conglomerates that hire too many people as irregular workers.

"Conglomerates have room to employ regular workers. However, they are hiring them as irregular ones so they can easily fire them," Lee said.

The measures, however, are expected to draw backlash from conglomerates which want flexibility.

Those switching from irregular to regular jobs, meanwhile, will be given tax support.

Lee stressed that all these measures will be...