'Layoff-free city' of Jeonju

Preserving jobs is key to keeping local economies afloat

The country's southwestern city of Jeonju has declared itself a “layoff-free city” in a win-win announcement to protect jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The declaration was issued through an agreement among local unions, management, civic groups and the local government in a ceremony April 21.

In the ceremony, business owners promised to do their best to maintain employment while Jeonju City and the labor ministry pledged proactive assistance to support them. The win-win declaration is intended to create a social atmosphere in which unions and management cooperate to prevent workers from being squeezed out of the labor market and to expand social safety nets.

Jeonju ― a city with a population of over 650,000 ― aims to make all companies in the city subscribe to employment insurance by providing subsidies for small businesses. The city also plans to bear half of the corporate furlough allowances of job retention subsidies offered to workers. Companies that retain jobs will be given various incentives, including deferred payments of local taxes and exemption from public utility charges.

At a time when the coronavirus-caused unemployment crisis is imminent, preservation of jobs is not a matter affecting only companies and workers. It is directly linked to the fate of local economies. In this respect, Jeonju deserves praise for sharing the burden and protecting jobs, the lifeline of citizens. The city's experiment is especially meaningful, given that the central government should not hesitate to think outside the box and take extraordinary measures in times of crisis.

Jeonju already set an example in February by launching the rent reduction campaign that has spread across the country. The campaign began with the participation of only 1,790 stores, but the number of participants soared to nearly 30,000 in early April. We hope that Jeonju's “layoff-free city” declaration will also be emulated by many other cities across the country so that all economic players can join hands to protect jobs.