| dc.description.abstract | Many countries have policy objectives to increase decent jobs for their economic growth and improving the quality of life of their own people. However, there were few researches to find out the conditions of job markets on the local level, especially in rural areas.
This study aims to perform a rural job market analysis in quantitative and qualitative perspectives, and then to develop some quantifiable indicators with which to evaluate a local area’s job retainment status. Also, this study conducted an extensive survey of public policy-makers of local job markets, drawing some meaningful implications for job-creation policies.
As a whole, in recent years, the entire number of jobs has slightly increased, but most of that increase has primarily happened in the sector of temporary and part time jobs. Created jobs are mostly concentrated in large urban regions, revealing the spatial inequality of job creation in our country. Moreover, there exists a great disparity between the qualities of new jobs in urban and rural job markets.
In this line of thought, we divided the analysis indicators into two groups, quantitative indicators and qualitative ones. The former ones were to assess both the number of jobs created within the reach of local job-seekers and potentials of future job creation coming from each region’s competitiveness. The latter ones consist of the stability of employment status and real wages. After analyzing the evaluation indicator of each study area’s job market status and reviewing the survey results, we were able to derive some significant conclusions.
First, policy-makers should consider qualitative and quantitative aspects of local jobs policies. Secondly, the job creation policy is required depending on the characteristics of each area. To be specific, in urban areas, the stable status of employment is a more important issue, whereas in rural areas, higher wages that can contribute to larger incomes of rural residents are the crucial factor to overall job satisfaction. Third, in rural areas, the decreasing number of jobs in the agricultural sector may lead to greater problems in the near future, so proper policy measures should be established to resolve the lack of labor forces for agriculture for a fallow period or due to the job-housing mismatch of farmers. Lastly, in order to create local jobs, region-specific policy is needed. According to the results of the survey, it was pointed out that the reorganization of the industrial structure into the high-tech industry and high-end service industry is more effective for job creation in large towns and cities, whereas in rather small and rural areas, public plans for an expansion of infrastructure, such as an agricultural industrial complex, to attract companies and the production industry are more recommended. After all, the central government policies on generating jobs need to be changed to bottom-up systems to enhance local governments’ autonomy.
Researchers: Shim Jaeheon, Song Miryeong, Seong Jooin, Kim Gwangseon, No Seungcheol
Research period: 2013. 11. 11. ~ 2014. 4. 15.
E-mail address: jhsim@krei.re.kr | - |
