Employers required to fill 3.5% of their workforce with people with disabilities by 2029
The South Korean government is gradually raising the mandatory employment quota for people with disabilities across both private and public sector employers, according to recent reports.
The Labour Ministry announced earlier this month that private sector employers should increase their PWD hiring rate to 3.5% by 2029, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The current hiring rate is 3.1%, which will go up to 3.3% in 2027, and 3.5% in 2029.
For the public sector, the current 3.8% hiring rate will be hiked to four per cent by 2029.
Declining employment for PWDs
The hiring rate hike comes as hiring for people with disabilities is on a downward trend despite increasing overall employment rates, according to the report.
The employment rate for people with disabilities has reached 48.4% in 2024, down from 49.8% in 2023, and 50.3% in 2022.
On the other hand, South Korea's overall employment rate has been going up from 69.2% in 2022 to 69.9% in 2023, and then 70% in 2024.
The hike in hiring rate for the private sector is expected to enable 30,000 people with disabilities to be employed by 2029, according to the ministry.
It is also expecting 4,000 PWDs to get employed in the public sector after the increase.
South Korea's disability employment policy covers state, local governments, and more than 50 public institutions and private enterprises, according to the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities (KEAD).
"If the employer fails to comply with the mandatory employment rate, the corresponding employment levy shall be collected; the employer who employs PWDs in excess of the rate is provided with an employment subsidy so as to create and maintain jobs for them," KEAD said on its website.
