This report was prepared to help Korea identify and address main social policy challenges. It suggests specific policy options and a strategy to “go social”, based on the practices and reforms that have worked well in other countries.

DELSA-G20 Country Note Korea-en

"200 million people are out of work worldwide, close to the peak recorded at the depth of the Great Recession" warn OECD and ILO at the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers meet in Paris.

The gap between rich and poor in OECD countries has reached its highest level for over over 30 years, and governments must act quickly to tackle inequality, according to a new OECD report.

Young people and their job prospects must be right at the centre of the policy agendas of our member and partner countries. Investing in youths is vital, we can neither accept nor afford a lost generation, said OECD Secretary-General.

Sweden’s 2008 reform of its labour migration policy, now one of the most open in the OECD, has helped businesses hire foreign workers quickly and cheaply, without hurting conditions for local workers, according to a new OECD report.

Can both less income inequality and more growth be achieved? A recent OECD study sheds new light on the link between policies that boost growth and the distribution of income.

The transition from education to work is not easy for many young people, particularly when it comes to finding sustainable employment with progression opportunities. Recently established national policies to support youth will be only effective if implemented in a coordinated way at local level.

The Institute for Competitiveness India, the National Skill Development Corporation India and the OECD LEED Programme in collaboration with the ILO are joining forces to discuss local skills strategies for job-rich and inclusive growth in India.

OECD and ILO heads call upon the Ministers of Labour and Employment of the G20 countries to put a greater, renewed emphasis on employment policies to help economies accelerate and sustain the recovery, achieve higher levels of decent work and get out of the debt trap, at the G20 Meeting in Mexico.

The Negev region has the potential to deliver real and tangible benefits for regional development, green growth and social inclusion. The report explains how the region can exploit its existing strenghts and competitive advantages, including a niche in research, demonstration and testing in renewable energies and water efficiency.

Employment: OECD sees high jobless rates continuing - more must be done urgently to boost job creation and help jobseekers

Australia’s labour market continues to perform well in comparison with other major developed countries. The unemployment rate, at 5.1% in May 2012, is among the lowest in the OECD.

The recovery of the Canadian labour market is well under way. The unemployment rate (ILO definition) fell by more than one percentage point to 7.2% in June 2012, since peaking at 8.5% in the third quarter of 2009.

The German labour market recovered very quickly from the 2008-09 economic crisis and unemployment continued its long-run structural decline in 2010 and 2011.

Italy has been hit hard by the crisis and unemployment may rise further. The recent recession hit the Italian economy hard with the country experiencing a large fall in GDP at the height of the crisis in 2009

The labour market recovery in Japan began strongly but has weakened since.

The Korean labour market continues to perform well after a quick recovery from the global economic crisis. Korea’s unemployment rate was 3.2% in May 2012, 0.2% point lower than a year earlier, and nearly down to its pre-crisis level of 3.1%.

Mexico has experienced a stronger economic recovery than most other OECD countries accompanied by strong employment growth.

Despite some decline in the number of registered unemployed in June, high levels of unemployment in Spain are set to persist in the short-run, given its weak economic growth prospects.

The UK economy has been broadly flat over the past two years. Employment has risen slightly, while the unemployment rate has stayed close to 8%. Projections in the 2012 OECD Employment Outlook foresee some increase in the unemployment rate that could even reach 9% in 2013.

The US labour market continues its slow recovery from the 2008-09 recession, but the unemployment rate remains significantly higher than before the financial crisis

OECD Secretary-General assesses the employment challenges facing Europe and the policy responses urgently needed to put the continent back on a path of jobs-rich growth, at the Employment Policy Conference in Brussels.

The Regional Growth Core Schönefelder Kreuz and the Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau in partnership with the OECD Local Economic and Employment Development Programme (LEED) are working on defining and collecting measurable indicators at the regional/ local level that can inform over time of transition to low-carbon economic and industrial activities.

This project aims to support the Slovak Republic as it seeks to create a clear rationale for the Regional Development Agencies Integrated Network which currently comprises 38 agencies.

The Australian state government of Queensland developed a set of Skills Formation Strategies as a new way to respond to skill shortages and mismatches.

Chile's OECD membership presents challenges both in the context of changing patterns of production and consumption, and in the framework of a more sustainable economy. Specifically, green growth emphasizes improving growth rates, particularly through greening existing industries, as well as through new eco-businesses.

The conference discussed the results of the project as well as policy recommendations on training and skills development for the creation of an innovative and competitive SME sector in OECD countries.

Progress has been made in narrowing the gender gap in pay, especially in employment, over the past decade but much remains to be done in many countries. Women pay a high price for motherhood, with steep childcare costs and taxes deterring many from working more, according to a new OECD report.

Entrepreneurship and the development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are key drivers of economic growth and job creation. The OECD review series on Boosting Local Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Creation, of which this study is a part, examines the capacity of local economies to support successful new enterprise creation and the growth of small enterprises.

This report presents, for the first time a local ‘green growth’ indicator framework. This indicator framework was developed from the OECD ‘green growth’ strategy at the national level, but modified to highlight issues of transition that are most relevant for local areas.

The well performing labour market has delivered low unemployment and relatively stable wage developments.

This study looks into the use of fixed term contracts and agency work in Russia during and shortly after the crisis 2009 10 with the help of an enterprise survey.

Belgian companies, mutualities and employment services should be more proactive in helping people with mental health problems stay in the workplace or find a job, according to a new OECD report.

Germany is one of the OECD countries with the lowest barriers to immigration for high-skilled workers. However, long-term labour migration is low in comparison with other countries.

Ongoing reforms of Denmark’s disability benefits and flexjobs are promising, but a stronger focus on helping people with their mental health issues is needed for the reforms to contribute to a sustainable decline in the high rate of unemployment, according to a new OECD report. Past labour market reforms failed because underlying mental health problems of the jobless remained unaddressed.

Norway should overhaul its approach to mental health issues in the workplace in order to help more people find a job or stay in work, and cut high and rising public spending, according to a new OECD report.

The OECD LEED Delivering Local Development work stream examines the local and regional framework conditions and instruments for intervention to achieve successful local economic development in participating countries and localities. It covers strategic themes encompassing finance and investment, building the knowledge base, delivery vehicles and economic strategies (including the local development impacts from global events).

High-growth firms (HGFs) – firms able to grow fast over a short period of time – contribute to most new jobs in advanced economies.

The main purpose of this meeting is to shortly present where the Mental Health and Work project stands and to discuss some good practice examples from the first countries that have been reviewed.

Everyone loses from unpaid internships – young people, society, even businesses. Companies that expect young people to work without pay are excluding graduates and school-leavers whose parents can’t afford to support them. They’re also shrinking the size of their potential talent pool and failing to develop a potentially valuable recruitment tool.

Korea should strengthen its social safety net and improve support for laid-off workers to help them find a new job more quickly, according to a new OECD report.

Income inequality increased by more in the first three years of the crisis to the end of 2010 than it had in the previous twelve years, before factoring in the effect of taxes and transfers on income, according to new OECD data.

An overview of OECD work on Employment, Social Protection and International Migration.

High female participation in the workforce has a decisive effect on a country’s performance, as Norway shows.

This paper discusses the results of the 2011-2012 OECD LEED study of measuring green growth in the Benelux countries (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg). The study paid particular attention to the challenges of measuring the transition to a low-carbon economy in cross-border areas as they have additional levels of complexity when it comes to measuring and monitoring their low-carbon transition.

This OECD Forum and the Ministerial Council Meeting that follows, are precisely about people. This is the raison d’etre of this event: the wellbeing of our people. So be confident, you are at the right place, this Conference is about you, and your families, and your friends, and their dreams, fears and opportunities, said Angel Gurría.

How to stimulate growth and support job creation are two critical challenges that countries and localities confront and limited resources require lateral thinking about how actions in one area, such as employment and training, can have simultaneous benefits in others, such as creating new jobs and better supporting labour market inclusion.

Norway is better placed to cope with population ageing than most other countries. But it could still do more to improve incentives and opportunities for people to stay working longer which would help ensure the country’s long-term future, according to a new OECD report.

This working paper reports on the work undertaken as part of the Tackling Long-term Unemployment Amongst Vulnerable Groups project. It includes the findings of a survey undertaken jointly by the OECD LEED Programme and the World Association of Public Employment Services in 2012, and also case studies and learning models from around the world on innovative practices to support the long-term unemployed into work.