Policy Proposal for Supporting Employment of High School Graduates

본고에서는 현재까지의 고졸취업 정책 추진 경과와 고졸취업 현황을 비교분석함으로써, 과연 이명박 정부 이래의 고졸취업 정책이 효과를 거두고 있는지를 파악하고자 한다. 고졸 전체 취업 현황은 전체 산업별 채용비율뿐만 아니라 정규직으로의 취업여부, 임금과 근속연수 등 양적, 질적 성과를 모두 고려하여 파악해 볼 것이다. 더불어 공공부문과 민간부문, 그리고 군복무로 인한 채용 현황을 구체적으로 분석하여 각 부문별 구체적인 정부 및 지방의 고졸취업 지원 강화 방안을 제안하고자 한다.This article, titled ‘Enhancing Support for Employment of High School Graduates,’ aimed to investigate whether the high school graduate employment policy since the Lee Myung-bak Administration has shown effects and propose improvement of the policy by analyzing the progress and status of employment of high school graduates, in the midst of continuing low economic growth and oversupply of university graduates, which resulted in a high unemployment rate among people in their 20s and 30s. To do so, this study analyzed high school graduate employment policies enacted by the South Korean government since 2008, in which the government began to promote the policy, by year. Second, it analyzed the employment status of high school graduates by school type, job type, and public and private sectors. Third, considering the high percentage of male students in vocational high schools, this study investigated the number of industrial agents needed by different industries according to education level in order to seek ways to link employment with military service. Lastly, exemplary policies related to employment of high school graduates in other countries were analyzed. The research and analysis showed that the policies had positive results, i.e., decrease in the number of vocational school graduates going to college and increased employment rate among vocational school graduates. However, it was also found that vocational graduates rarely find jobs in major corporations or public institutions as desired and the number of high-quality jobs open to high school graduates is decreasing. To resolve such discrepancies, mid-to-long-term policy for fostering and hiring workforce with high school diploma needs to be developed. In that regard, this study made the following suggestions: First, to expand employment of high school graduates in the public sector, the government needs to lead gradual increase direct employment of high school graduates in the Grade 9 positions in central local governments as proposed in this study. Second, to expand employment of high school graduates in the private sector, the government needs to offer financial (tax) benefits to private businesses employing high school graduates, subsidize employment of young people, encourage employment cooperation between companies and schools, and offer advanced vocational education for high school graduates to improve their long-term employability skills as proposed in this study. Third, to resolve issues of career interruption due to military service, this study proposed ways to support career continuation through, for instance, selection of specialist soldiers among vocational school graduates, continuous career development training during military service, and employment support after military service. Fourth, this study proposed a way to build an employment support cooperation system to provide and manage sufficient job information according to the skills and aptitude of job seekers and a total support system according to the career development stage (Stage 1: early employment, Step 2: study after employment, Step 3: advancement and specialization) of job seekers with high school diploma. I hope the policy analysis and proposal in this study can lead to successful employment of high school graduates and meritocratic society.Ⅰ. 배경 및 문제점 2 Ⅱ. 조사 및 분석 결과 5 Ⅲ. 정책 제언 20 Ⅳ. 기대효과 27 참고 문헌 28 Abstract 30 [부록] 3