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Busan Youth Select 120 “2026 Youth-Appealing Companies”

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Park Heong-joon, and the Busan Economic Promotion Agency announced that they will hold the “2026 Busan Youth-Appealing Company Launch Ceremony” today (March 26) at 3:00 PM at the BEXCO Convention Hall (1st floor), targeting 120 outstanding companies that Busan youth wish to work for.

This event has been prepared to award certificates to the 120 selected Youth-Appealing Companies and to widely promote their excellent employment environments, thereby establishing a foundation for young people to settle stably in Busan.

The program will include a presentation by the youth evaluation group representative on company evaluations, as well as case presentations by young employees working at selected companies, followed by a certificate award ceremony. It will also feature an introduction to support benefits for Youth-Appealing Companies and a labor relations special lecture on 2026 HR trends. Mayor Park will deliver a congratulatory video message to celebrate the selection and express his commitment to youth employment policies.

Prior to this, the city re-certified 90 companies among the 110 companies selected last year that met key evaluation criteria such as average starting salary for new employees. Through a three-stage evaluation process—including quantitative assessments such as wage levels, employment stability, and company size, as well as on-site evaluations conducted by 12 teams of youth evaluators (24 members) who visited workplaces and conducted interviews, and qualitative evaluations covering work-life balance and organizational culture—30 new companies were selected.

The city selected companies by actively reflecting youth preferences, including 20 companies attractive for salary, 30 for welfare, 28 for work-life balance, and 42 for future prospects.

The newly selected companies underwent a three-stage verification process including document screening, on-site interviews by the youth evaluation group, and in-depth expert evaluation. In particular, advanced industries such as semiconductors and IT, along with key regional manufacturing industries, were evenly included, enhancing the competitiveness of local industries.

The Youth-Appealing Company discovery and matching support project is Busan Metropolitan City’s flagship youth employment initiative, which identifies excellent companies by comprehensively considering factors preferred by young people—such as wage levels, welfare systems, work-life balance, and growth potential—and supports matching between companies and youth.

The city plans to strengthen customized programs that lead to actual employment by supporting selected companies with initiatives such as dedicated Youth-Appealing Managers for company–youth matching, promotion and marketing, on-site briefing sessions, Mega recruitment fairs, youth job matching (JOB), internship programs, and youth employment success pool (Full) packages.

Meanwhile, according to the results of a survey conducted last December, the youth-friendly working environments of Youth-Appealing Companies are leading to tangible improvements in employment indicators.

According to the “2025 Youth-Appealing Company Survey,” 77.3% of participating companies reported experiencing recruitment branding effects, and 45.5% stated that the number of job applicants had actually increased. This indicates that the Youth-Appealing Company brand is positively influencing companies’ ability to secure talented personnel.

In particular, the employee retention rate among workers hired by Youth-Appealing Companies was found to be 81%, demonstrating that fair compensation and work-life balance–centered work environments contribute to stable employment for young people.

The city plans to select five companies with outstanding youth employment performance from among the 120 Youth-Appealing Companies in May and provide various incentives, including KRW 40 million in support for strengthening good workplaces, exemption from acquisition tax on newly acquired business-use real estate, designation as a Busan-certified outstanding company, and reduction of credit guarantee fees.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the representatives of Youth-Appealing Companies who have willingly created good workplaces for young people despite difficult business conditions.” He added, “Youth-Appealing Companies are representative companies of Busan that young people have directly evaluated and chosen, equipped with fair compensation, work-life balance, and growth potential.” He concluded, “We will continue to devote all our efforts to creating an environment where youth and companies can grow together.”