Korea as a first mover could be a model for best practices in maintaining the industrial workforce and preserving jobs.

South Korea: A Roadmap to COVID-19 Economic Recovery — Industry and Automotive

Apr 27, 2020

In this second segment COVID-19 recovery series, following up on the first, we look at how Korea as a first-mover could be a model for best practices in maintaining the industrial workforce and preserving jobs.

Like most of the world, government intervention is the cornerstone of South Korea’s recovery. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has announced a massive relief package worth billions for South Korea’s key industries disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Preventing layoffs and creating jobs have become the top priorities for the government.

The funds are meant to help them weather the crisis, which the Korean president characterized as the worst since the 1997 IMF financial meltdown, and to help maintain employment. Moon also unveiled an additional job protection program to cushion the COVID-19 impact on the country’s overall job market. This includes new job creation in the digital sector.

Drilling Deeper

A significant portion of Korea’s economy and the backbone of the country’s employment is from export-driven sectors, especially in hard-hit key industries that…