Korean workers retire from their primary jobs at the average age of 53. However, a considerable number of them stays in the workforce even after retirement to begin their second career. As such, Korea's major employment indices for the population aged 50 or over (hereinafter referred to as ‘people middle-aged and older’) are relatively sound compared to other countries. However, this, in some part, is attributable to the fact that people middle-aged and older feel the need to continue working due to insufficient income security and the high poverty rate. Also, the workers in this age bracket are exposed to poorer working conditions than other age groups. In this context, this report examined the working conditions faced by people middle-aged and older in the labor market and suggested future directions of employment programs targeting this group. In addition, we evaluated employment programs for people middle-aged and older by type.            

   First, we examined the current labor market conditions for those middle-aged and older. The labor force participation rate and employment rate of this group have been rising steadily since 2003. However, the proportion of self-employment aimed at earning a living is much too high. The paid workers in this age bracket are also facing poor working conditions, e.g. a relatively higher proportion of non-regular workers, lower wages, and a higher rate of workplace accidents than other age groups.  
 
   Therefore, regarding employment programs for people middle-aged and older, the following points should be noted: 1) the programs should be pursued as countermeasures against blind spots in welfare policy; 2) the focus should be placed on improving poor working conditions of workers middle-aged and older; and 3) employment connection services for placing retired professional manpower in the right positions should be reinforced. 

   Second, we examined the current status of employment programs for people middle-aged and older. A total of about KRW1.173 trillion was spent for 45 employment programs for this group in 2012 and approximately KRW1.479 trillion for 49 programs in 2013. In the 2014 budget bill, about KRW1.582 trillion has been allocated for 47 programs. In contrast with employment programs for young people, which also focus on job training and business start-up assistance programs along with direct job creation programs, 90.5% of the budget for employment programs for people middle-aged and older is concentrated on job creation programs.      

   Lastly, we evaluated each type of employment program for people middle-aged and older.

   1) Direct job creation programs
   Among these programs, 77% of the offered jobs proposed a wage less than the minimum cost of living of one-person households, and 95.2% proposed a wage below the minimum cost of living of two-person households. Moreover, the duration of seven out of the ten most popular direct job creation programs among workers middle-aged and older ranged from three months to 10 months, forcing many workers in this group to engage in other activities to earn a living. Therefore, direct job creation programs, which aim to protect the basic livelihood of people middle-aged and older, who are relatively less competent than other age groups, should be designed to enable them to earn annual incomes.       

   2) Job training programs
   In order to reinforce job training for people middle-aged and older, training cost support given to employers offering job training to their employees in this group should be increased or the support limit should be extended. Since many workers in this age group are the breadwinners of their families, they find it more difficult than young people to receive job training due to a lack of financial resources and time. Hence, aside from offering job training opportunities, an environment that enables these employees to actually receive job training should be created.

   3) Employment promotion subsidy programs
   The effectiveness of ‘Employment programs for people aged 60 or over,’ the ‘Wage peak system based on the reduced working hour model’, etc. should be re-examined given their low feasibility and poor execution results, and the government should consider revising the substance of employment promotion subsidy programs accordingly.

   4) Employment service programs
   We found that job centers, which are the main job search channel of people middle-aged and older, lacked employment service-related infrastructure for this group, including dedicated units and staff, information data, and employment support consultative bodies. In 2012, 79.2% of people middle-aged and older who used major employment service channels relied on job centers for job searching. However, merely 11.1% of job centers had dedicated units for this group, and only 38.9% of them had dedicated staff.     

   5) Business start-up assistance programs
   Many baby boomers with higher education backgrounds and expertise are now retiring and are highly likely to start their own businesses using their professional skills. Hence, existing business start-up assistance programs, which mostly support micro start-up businesses aimed at earning a living, need to be improved.