Policy Proposals for Developing Human Resources of Regular Workers Who Are Converted from Non-Regular Employment:Public Sector Organizations in South Korea

Beginning in 2017 the South Korean Government proposed a policy of converting non-regular workers into regular workers primarily in public sector organizations. As of September 2018, 100,000 non-regular workers converted into regular workers in the public sector. It is expected that converted regular workers will require human resource development. The purpose of this study was to make suggestions for supporting such development. Recent research on non-regular workers and their limited access to training opportunities was reviewed. Five case studies were conducted. A focus group interview of HR professionals, a focus group interview of HRD managers of public organizations, and ten in-depth interviews of regular workers who are converted from non-regular employment were conducted to analyze current status of and demand for human resource development of the workers. This study suggested that the Korean Government should provide structured training for the workers who are converted from non-regular employment. It should also consider adopting systems to support training and development of the workers. Human resource management issues which arise in the process of converting employees’ employment status need to be managed beforehand. This study proposed future studies in the topic of human resource development related to changing employees’ employment status