The Seoul Metropolitan Government will expand job development and vocational training for middle-aged and older workers in response to employment conditions reshaped by the spread of artificial intelligence. The city plans to break training programs into narrower tracks that match actual corporate hiring needs and to strengthen career-transition courses that pair participants' existing experience with AI skills. The measures are expected to help middle-aged workers move into new occupations and widen their chances of finding jobs again.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said at an executive meeting on the 21st that "re-employment for middle-aged workers is a very important task," and instructed officials to "expand the Mid-Career Job Training Academy as dramatically as the Youth Job Training Academy, and aggressively identify new jobs suited to the AI era."
Oh said that as AI spreads, existing jobs are disappearing while new consumption and economic activity emerge, giving rise to occupations that did not exist before. He stressed that the city must actively identify occupations in which middle-aged workers can realistically find employment and develop training programs to match.
He called in particular for a shift away from uniform vocational training toward what he described as a "small-batch, many-varieties" approach geared to corporate hiring demand. The aim is to run training courses for a wide range of occupations on a small scale to raise placement rates.
The city plans to analyze changes in industrial structure and corporate hiring demand to identify jobs suited to middle-aged workers, and to expand hands-on training that adds AI and digital skills to their existing careers. The programs will go beyond obtaining certifications to include employer matching and follow-up support after placement.
Support will also be strengthened for people in their 40s, who face worsening job prospects. In August, the number of employed people in their 40s in Seoul fell by 22,000 from a year earlier, while the figure for those in their 50s rose by 28,000. The city will launch an intensive practical course on AI transition and job-change support programs including interview coaching for people in their 40s, and expand evening and weekend classes.
The Mid-Career Job Training Academy, launched in March, currently runs 113 customized training programs. From March to September, 18,356 people took part in vocational training, employment counseling and recruitment events, and 5,111 people received job placement support, up 45% from 3,525 for all of last year. The figure has already surpassed this year's target of 4,500.
By 2030, Seoul plans to keep expanding the academy to build what it calls a "30-minute employment support network" covering all 25 autonomous districts.
"We will actively identify occupations newly emerging in the AI era and focus on connecting the experience and capabilities of middle-aged workers to actual employment," Oh said. "Through the expansion of the Mid-Career Job Training Academy and tailored support, we will build Seoul into a 'special city for quality of life,' where people can keep taking on new challenges regardless of age and enjoy both the rewards of work and economic stability."