The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Sunday it will hold the "2026 Korea Shared Growth Job Fair" on April 28-29 at the aT Center in Seoul’s Yangjae area, together with related ministries including the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
Seven major economic organizations will jointly take part, including the Federation of Korean Industries, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea Employers Federation, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Federation of SMEs, and the Korea Enterprises Federation.
The fair follows a December "Youth Jobs First Step" pledge by the government and business groups. About 700 companies will participate online and in person, with plans to hire more than 2,200 people. The ministry said both the number of participating firms and planned hires are sharply higher than at the Korea Job Fair held last March and the shared-growth cooperation job fair held in October.
A shared-growth hiring zone will feature 169 companies, including suppliers to major conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG, as well as government-recommended mid-sized and small firms, venture startups, and global companies. Participating companies will conduct on-site interviews or provide recruitment information.
The event will also run promotion zones for K-Digital Training, with participants including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Korea Oracle, and for large-small business shared-growth programs, with participants including Samsung C&T, POSCO and Hanssem. Organizers said the zones will offer close counseling to help young job seekers better understand roles and build skills.
Programs will include one-on-one coffee chats with employed young professionals who recently landed jobs, practical job-search lectures by corporate recruiters, and an intensive interview zone offering on-site interviews, personal color consultations, suit rentals, and hair and makeup support.
Hands-on events will include an LED photo zone for "wishing for success" set against backdrops of well-known sites nationwide, including Yeonjudae on Gwanaksan, and a program to create self-PR business cards highlighting strengths and job skills.
For young people and companies outside Seoul who cannot attend in person, an online recruitment hall has been operating since March 19. It will run through the end of July for four months, providing recruitment information and online application services.
Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon called youth employment "the most urgent and serious task" facing society.
"As this fair shows, solving youth employment is possible when the government and companies work together," Kim said. He added that he hopes the event will go beyond a one-off gathering and become a turning point for large companies and their partners to grow together, with the government and business moving as "one team" to create a virtuous cycle of jobs.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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