Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City to Invest KRW 2.1 Trillion to Create 200,000 Jobs, Aiming to Become the City with the Highest Employment Rate

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it has established the “2026 Comprehensive Employment Policy Plan” to realize “Busan as a Future Job Hub for Citizen Happiness” and will begin full-scale implementation.

The purpose of this comprehensive plan is to resolve the imbalance (mismatch) between job supply and demand and to create high-quality jobs centered on advanced industries, allowing citizens to directly experience changes in the job market by focusing administrative capacity.

This year, the city plans to invest a total of KRW 2.1187 trillion to create 200,800 jobs and continue improving employment indicators.

Last year, Busan’s employment rate based on OECD standards (ages 15–64) reached 68.1%, marking an increase of 5.2 percentage points over five years and closely trailing Seoul, which ranks first among the seven major metropolitan cities at 70%. The city aims to invest approximately KRW 2.1 trillion by 2026 to achieve a 70.0% employment rate based on OECD standards, stabilize the number of regular employees at around one million, and rise to become the city with the highest employment rate among the seven major metropolitan cities.

The comprehensive plan is structured around the vision of “Busan as a Future Job Hub for Citizen Happiness,” with four major strategies and 16 action tasks: resolving employment mismatch, creating quality jobs centered on strategic industries, expanding the innovative growth industry ecosystem, and increasing customized jobs by target group.

[Resolving Employment Mismatch]
The city will strengthen responses to employment mismatch to address discrepancies between industrial demand and workforce supply.

It will promote the “Mega-Regional Job Project (KRW 5.12 billion)” to foster key industries across the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region, strengthening wide-area employment support, commuting assistance, and living zone connectivity. It will also implement the “Mutual Growth-Based Employment Expansion Project for Prime and Subcontracting Companies (KRW 2.4 billion)” centered on the shipbuilding industry to reduce employment gaps and improve working conditions.

Additionally, the city will promote the “Strategic Industry Customized Job Support Project (KRW 5 billion)” reflecting regional industrial characteristics such as tourism and MICE, machinery, parts, and steel industries. A new digital job model will also be introduced by supporting location-based remote work through micro job platforms that connect external projects with local young IT professionals.

[Creating Quality Jobs Centered on Strategic Industries]
The city will expand the creation of quality jobs by advancing industrial structures based on cutting-edge technologies and fostering future advanced industries.

It will promote the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) companies, establish a digital industry ecosystem, and accelerate the development of next-generation industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, future mobility, and hydrogen. At the same time, it will advance and digitally transform key local industries, including machinery parts, shipbuilding, maritime, footwear, and textiles.

In particular, to cultivate core talent tailored to industrial demand, the city will simultaneously foster AI and digital specialists, strategic industry professionals, and field-oriented practical experts. It will also strengthen a talent supply system linked to regional industries through initiatives such as the Busan Digital Innovation Academy, AI specialist training programs, and workforce development for semiconductor, secondary battery, and maritime industries.

[Expanding the Innovative Growth Industry Ecosystem]
The city will expand an innovative growth industry ecosystem centered on investment attraction, industry-academia cooperation, startups, and finance to establish a sustainable job creation structure.

It will strengthen the foundation for attracting investment by promoting Opportunity Development Zones and attracting companies focused on future industries, while linking industry and talent through the Regional Innovation System & Education (RISE), global universities, and the cultivation of future talent through industry-academia cooperation.

In addition, the city will reinforce a one-stop startup support system centered on the Busan Startup Investment Agency, provide customized support for each stage of growth, expand a region-led startup ecosystem, and establish a global startup network.

In the financial sector, the city plans to expand new job foundations by advancing its status as a financial hub, attracting financial companies, and fostering fintech, maritime finance, blockchain, and digital asset industries.

[Expanding Customized Jobs by Target Group]
The city will strengthen customized job support tailored to different groups, including youth, women, middle-aged and older adults, and vulnerable populations.

For youth, it will expand integrated employment support services such as the Youth Do Dream Center, the Busan Youth Employment Success Full Package, and support for housing and living stability. It will also newly launch Busan Youth JOB Matching and a Mega Job Fair to connect unemployed youth with local small and medium-sized enterprises, while expanding youth-friendly job opportunities through the “Youth-Pulled Companies” initiative that identifies and supports companies preferred by young people.

For middle-aged and older adults, the city will strengthen support for reemployment, career transitions, and life redesign. For women, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable groups, it will expand customized job opportunities and employment support services to build a more robust employment safety net.

The city plans to focus its administrative capacity on creating an employment environment that citizens can tangibly experience, ensuring that the outcomes of employment policies translate into improvements in citizens’ lives.

Detailed information on the “2026 Comprehensive Employment Policy Plan of Busan Metropolitan City” is available on the official website at http://www.busan.go.kr/ghopen09.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “We will create an employment environment that citizens can truly experience by resolving employment mismatch and expanding quality jobs. We will also expand the foundation for sustainable job creation by fostering advanced industries, nurturing talent, strengthening industry-academia cooperation, and enhancing the startup ecosystem. Furthermore, we will elevate Busan into a future job hub through employment policies linked to advanced industries.”