Jeju to provide up to 700,000 won per month when lodging and restaurant businesses hire young people as regular employees

【Financial News Jeju = Reporter Jeong Yong-bok】 Restaurants, lodging businesses, retail businesses, and financial businesses in Jeju Province will be eligible to receive up to 700,000 won per month in labor-cost support when they newly hire young people as regular employees. Industries previously excluded from the program have been added to reflect Jeju’s tourism- and service-oriented economic structure.
Jeju Special Self-Governing Province announced on the 6th that it will conduct an additional recruitment drive for companies participating in the 2026 Youth Employment Support Hope Project from September 10 to 21.
The program is a Jeju-style youth employment initiative that provides labor-cost support when small and medium-sized businesses in the province newly hire young people as regular employees. It operates under three categories: first job, additional hiring, and better jobs. The maximum monthly support is 700,000 won.
The biggest change in this additional recruitment round is the expansion of eligible industries. Restaurants, lodging businesses, retail businesses, and financial businesses have been newly included. As the support now covers tourism and service industries, which account for a large share of Jeju’s youth employment market, more companies will be able to use the program.
Support will focus on small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than five regular employees. The policy takes into account that many small businesses postpone new hiring because of the labor costs, even when they want to hire young people as regular employees.
Jeju Province aims to reduce the hiring burden on businesses while giving young people more opportunities to enter stable regular employment rather than taking contract or short-term jobs.
Adding another recruitment round is also a measure to increase youth employment. Jeju Province originally planned to accept applications from new participating companies four times a year—in January, April, July, and October. By adding a September recruitment round alongside the expansion of eligible industries, the province will allow companies in the newly included sectors to participate in the program.
The support categories are determined by the young person’s employment history, whether the company has increased its workforce, and wage levels. “First job” supports a young person’s initial entry into the labor market, while “additional hiring” provides labor-cost support to companies that have increased youth employment compared with the past. “Better jobs” is designed to lead to more stable employment by improving wages and working conditions.
The program’s policy impact will depend less on the subsidies paid to companies than on how much actual youth regular employment increases. In particular, it will be important to determine whether expanded support in service industries such as lodging, restaurants, and retail—where many young people in Jeju enter the workforce—leads to longer job tenure and greater employment stability.
Jeju Province is also focusing this additional recruitment round on reducing the hiring burden for businesses with fewer than five employees. After the eligible industries are expanded, the number of newly participating companies and young people hired is expected to provide an indication of how effective the policy changes are.
Kang Ae-sook, Jeju Province Director of Economic Vitality, said, “We expect the expansion of eligible industries and the additional September recruitment round to ease the burden on small and medium-sized businesses in the province that are planning to hire young people.” She added, “We will increase companies’ youth employment and expand job opportunities where young people can work stably in Jeju.”


[email protected] Reporter Jeong Yong-bok Reporter