For foreign firms wanting to hire

By Jeffrey I. Kim

In the era of global secular stagnation, the speed ofGDP growth for every country seems to have dropped. The U.S. economic recoveryis slow. The prospect for slower growth begets vicious chains of effects.Businesses forecasting slower growth make less investment and reduce theiremployment, which leads to less income and less consumption and lower growthfor next year.

Most countries are suffering slower growth and very high youth unemployment.Nevertheless, it is possible that some countries outperform others in thegrowth of gross domestic product (GDP). Korea tries to escape the low-growthtrap by promoting foreign direct investment. To induce advanced manufacturingtechnology from abroad, the government provides many incentives, including cashgrants to foreign companies.

One critical challenge for the foreign firms is to hire college graduates intheir host countries. Once they hire young people with talent, they want thenew employees to stay long enough to become high-ranking executives. However,they do not know for sure who will be the right candidates. Likewise, studentjob seekers do not know exactly which company is the right one for them. Thisis the situation where the Ombudsman's Office is expected to play a vital role.

Recently, I experienced a touching moment at a local university. TheOmbudsman's Office conducts the campus recruiting program for young people byvisiting universities all over Korea. For these events, we invite popularforeign companies operating in Korea to promote their businesses and explaintheir hiring plans to the students.

On September 23, President Hong Duck-ryul of Daegu University hosted ourprogram of "Campus Recruiting for Foreign Invested Companies 2015."Other universities in the area were also able to participate through the jointefforts of Gyeong-buk Province. When we took a campus tour with President Hong,I was amazed that every building has an access ramp for students bound towheelchairs.

He said Daegu University is a small private university but the only one inKorea fully equipped with facilities for disabled students. He was concerned thatalthough its number of disabled students is still manageable, more disabledstudents are applying to Daegu University every year and funding sources areextremely limited. A total of 218 disabled students are now studying at Daegu.

The university has a Christian foundation. When started in 1956, it was asocial work institute. It was founded on the philosophies of goodwill andcharity. Under the motto of Love, Light and Freedom, the university continuesto strive to provide opportunities for the disabled students to become activemembers of a civil society. So it is easy to imagine that the students who havestudied for four years at Daegu will become responsible citizens, well equippedwith professional skills and the sense of philanthropy. 

For the campus recruiting program, nine foreign companies ― Siemens, TEConnectivity, Adecco, Uniqlo, Dow Corning, Elring Klinger, Faurecia, YuzhenInternational and Maxon Motor ― came to the university's main auditorium andmet 510 student job seekers. The auditorium was packed and filled with theenthusiasm of the speakers from the foreign firms and with the hopes andexpectations of the prospective job candidates.

The Ombudsman's Office has been conducting campus recruiting programs for fiveyears and they are getting more popular among universities and students. Wefocus on provincial universities for this program for many reasons. Among themare: Provincial university students suffer from unfair competition. Inherently,they have fewer opportunities to work for high-paying large companies than dothe students from the universities in the Seoul metropolitan area; a largenumber of foreign companies have their factories and plants in provincialareas; and foreign firms prefer graduates from provincial universities to thosefrom the metropolitan area because they believe the students adjust to theirwork environment quicker and better.

Based on my experience conducting the campus recruiting program, I expect morestudents from provincial universities will be able to get high-quality jobsoffered by foreign-invested companies. 

Jeffrey I. Kim is the foreign investment ombudsman, a presidentiallyappointed troubleshooter for investors and entrepreneurs from overseas.He earned his Ph.D. in economics at the University ofChicago and taught atthe University of Colorado,
Boulder, and Sungkyunkwan University.

Link : http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2015/10/197_188973.html