[vol.17] [The Action Center for Women's Unemployment] The funtions of public employment offices should be reinforced
WORKING WOMAN 2008. 3. 21. 10:45- There is a need for the provision of employment information, and for professionalism in job counselling
This section will appear regularly in this volume, because we feel the need to report regularly the activities of the Action Center for Women's Unemployment (ACWU) in Working Women. The ACWU has been established. This article is an abstract from the monitoring report on public employment centers issued by the ACWU affiliated with the KWWAU on November 30, 1998. This article summarizes the 'results of survey on unemployed women' and 'policy suggestions to strengthen functions of public employment offices'.
- Analyzing results of surveys on unemployed women
The survey was conducted by the KWWAU and Seoul Women Workers' Association in the Seoul area, Inchon Women Workers' Association in the Inchon area, Kwangju Women Workers' Association in the Kwangju area, and the Action Center of Women's Unemployment. affiliated with the Pusan Women's Association in the Pusan area.
This survey aims at finding better ways to identify and solve a variety of difficulties that unemployed women confront, when they cannot easily be employed and when they cannot find adequate counsel. The survey targeted unemployed women with the distribution of 1,000 questionnaires. Out of them, 721 questionnaires were returned and used for this analysis.
Divided by region, 201 questionnaires were collected from Seoul, 170 from Pusan, 146 from Inchon, and 204 from Kwangju. Among them, 497 women were registered with public offices as job seekers, but 220 were not. The questionnaires with no replies were excluded from this analysis.
- Characteristics of the sample
Unemployed women responsible for family finances make up 58.7% of the survey. Those who have previous working experiences account for 91.9% of the total respondents. Their jobs prior to their unemployment were ordinary clerical (28.4%) and sales women in the service sector (26.0%), which are the great majority. As many as 72.3% represent women who had stopped working within a year.
Duration of unemploymen
Duration when women are not employed Frequency ％ within a year 474 72.3 2-3 years 95 14.5 4-5 years 21 3.2 5-7 years 22 3.3 +8 years 44 6.7 - Results from the survey on unemployed women registered as job seekers with public employment offices
The women registered with public offices make up 69.3 % numbering 497 persons, among the total respondents. In terms of the public employment offices where they are registered, local labor offices represent 38.1%, manpower banks 20.1%, Industrial Manpower Corp. 26%, District offices 19.9%, the offices of Dong 22.8%, and other public offices 13.9%.
Also, unpaid temporary agencies account for 0.4%, paid agencies for 0.8%, manpower agencies for 0.8%, Action Centers for Women's Unemployment for 7.2%, and others for 0.6%. Therefore, the offices where the greatest number of women are registered are local labor offices. The offices of Dong are where women usually register themselves for public work. The average number of registered offices is 1.15.
Numbers of contacts by public employment offices to unemployed people for job placemen
Number of contacts by employment offices Frequency ％ once 130 27.4 2-3 times 55 11.6 over 4 timesv 26 5.5 nil 263 55.5 The reasons for the low rates of job placement are that 40.6% of unemployed women think that jobs are not available, 14.2% regard their careers as not professional and skilled, 17.6% think they are too old, while the low percentage of 6.2% of women indicate that officers are unhelpful and indifferent.
Why do you think that you are informed of few jobs?
Reasons Frequency ％ jobs are unavailable 131 40.6 officers are insincere 20 6.2 I am not professional 46 14.2 I am too old 57 17.6 I am married 17 5.3 other 52 16.1 Concerning the item related to their acceptance of jobs when there was a job opening, 56.5% of women answered that they accepted the job, which is slightly higher than 43.5% who replied that they have not. The reasons for not working despite the job opening were that 33.3% of women said the job was different to the announcement, 17.9% were refused by companies, and 16.7% that the job was temporary, and 13.1% that the working atmosphere made them uneasy. In particular, the reply with the highest percentage confirmed that the job information provided by public employment offices was not adequate and precise.
Why did you not accept the job opening?
Reasons for not taking positions Frequency ％ Jobs were different 28 33.3 Jobs were temporary 14 16.7 Working atmospheres were strange 11 13.1 I was refused by the company 15 17.9 Other 16 19.0 The highest percentage of women(38.4%) indicated that the job was different to what they wanted, although the job had been found through public employment offices. Regarding the question about if they registered again after their three-month period, 24.6% of women did re-register, while 43.7% did not re-register, which is over two times the number of re-registered women. The highest percentage (56.6%) of women replied that they did not re-register because they were not guaranteed employment.
Did you re-register after the three months?
Whether they re-registered or not Frequency ％ Yes 90 24.6 No 160 43.7 I am not eligible
(because three months already passed by)116 31.7 Why did you not re-register?
Reasons for not Frequency ％ Employment is 98 56.6 I was already employed 16 9.2 It is easier to find jobs placed by others than by employment agencies 6 3.5 I did not have time 19 11.0 others 34 19.7 Amongst the respondents, 30.4% identified poor information provision as negative aspects of their counseling, 21.0% mentioned unprofessional job counselling, 17.5% said of officers' rude behaviour, 9.0% said that they felt embarrassed to bother others and to ask for help when the offices were crowded by other job seekers, 8.8% felt the same embarrassment because they had to expose their problems in public as the offices had no partitions between the various sections, and 7.6% mentioned shortage of counselling time.
To improve the current practices, as much as 27.4% indicated the importance of detailed job information, 24.7% professional job counselling, 20.7% the necessity for the provision of a variety of job information, 18.1% kind and detailed counselling, and 7.9% increasing number of counsellors (with enough counselling time).
Negative aspect of their counselling
(The highest two are counted.)
Uncomfortable things in their counselling Frequency ％ impoliteness 131 17.5 lack if job information 227 30.4 unprofessional counseling 157 21.0 shortage of counselling time 57 7.6 noisiness 18 2.4 I have to read others' minds because the space is not separate. 66 8.8 I have to read others' minds because it is crowded. 67 9.0 Other 25 3.3 Requirement to improve counselling effectively
Requirement to Frequency ％ Professional counselors are needed 202 24.7 Kind and detail counseling is needed 148 18.1 The increasing number of counselors are needed (in enough counseling time) 64 7.9 More detailed job information is needed 224 27.4 A variety of types of jobs are needed 169 20.7 Other 10 1.2 Unemployed women wanted a variety of unemployment-related information as well as registration at the same time. Amongst 496 women registered as job-seekers, 94.4% (excluding no replies) indicated the necessity of the provision of unemployment-related information as well as job placement counselling, although the provision of other unemployment-related information accounted for only 32.3%. This represents that adequate one-stop services in public employment offices are not performed. Additionally, most of the cases show that varied and professional job information are not guaranteed, although 16.6% received information on vocational training and 11.0% received public work out of unemployment-related information.
Did you receive any information, excluding job registration, from public employment offices?
Whether you received any info. excluding job registration Frequency ％ Yes 153 32.3 No 321 67.7 Do you need any unemployment-related information excluding job placement?
Whether you need any unemployment-related info Frequency ％ very much 233 50.9 yes 204 44.5 so so 20 4.4 unnecessary 1 0.2 Women who feel the necessity for counseling offices(or sections) specializing in form large majority (86.7%) (52.3% replied 'very much', and 34.4% 'yes'). This is in contrast with the replies from public employment offices which did not feel the necessity.
- Results from the survey targeting unregistered women
Unemployed women who had not registered as job seekers numbered 220. As much as 48.2% of them mentioned that they had not registered because they had not known, and 23.3% because employment is not guaranteed; this formed the majority of the respondents.
In particular, "I don't know" made up 50% of all replies, this confirms poor public campaigning and poor performance by public employment offices, and the necessity for strengthening their functions. Women who want to be registered as job seekers made up 71.6% and those who registered 19.6%, which means that 91.2% women indicated their intention to be registered in the future.
- Characteristics of the sample
- Policy Suggestions for consolidating functions of public employment offices - Upgrading significantly the functions of public employment offices, and establishment of independent women's counselling centers-
- Basic goals for public employment offices responsible for job placement should be established
Why do women need the expansion and consolidation of functions of public employment offices! Since the offices have generally dealt with job placement for regular workers in their 20s and 30s, women have instead had to find jobs through paid private agencies.
Thus, women job-seekers who form the highest number of job seekers are severely affected by this situation. The basic principle that public employment offices should take responsibility for job placement is to firmly be established. The ILO guideline for unpaid job replacement should be used as a reference.
Additionally, NGOs should function as job placement centers in connection between public employment office and private agencies, without charging workers. The enacted Dispatched Law should also be reviewed.
- Independent women's counselling sections for new female labor force should be significantly improved
It is very difficult for the new female labor force, recent graduates and women re-entering the labor force to find work. They have little job information and lack self-confidence, and find it difficult to look for work. Hence, public offices should expand their job campaigns, and their functions should be consolidated as follows;
Firstly, there should be more recruiters and they should be managed adequately. Public employment offices should look for recruiters actively. In particular, employment offices should convince employers not to take into consideration women's marital status when recruiting.
Secondly, more detailed and sensitive counselling is needed. Public employment offices should encourage female job seekers who lack self-confidence through promoting their self-confidence and providing them with detailed information on how to find work. Also, professional counselors should be employed in order to help women adapt to their workplaces and their management should be consolidated.
- A system of counseling for women should be established in public employment offices
Counseling system for women are demanded by many women because they are aware of inadequate job placement services and poor provision of job information in public employment offices.
Due to severe job segregation between men and women, a shortage of jobs for women, and the underevaluation of the female labor force, it is difficult for the offices to increase the number of female employment through ordinary management and occupational classification. Therefore, a system for independent management of the female labor force in all employment offices is desperately needed.
Also, women counselors should be employed. In addition, recruiters for women should be guaranteed and managed systematically. Their job placement should be structured and announced on the government employment office's homepage (www.work.go.kr) in order to monitor long-term employment trends and recruitment characteristics, and to share all related information amongst job-seekers.
- The Management and monitoring of publicly paid private job agencies should be reinforced
According to information provided by the Ministry of Labor, only 380 cases of unreasonable job placement were found, and only 24 cases of their illegal activities in job placement were found by labor-related offices in 1998.
Under the current circumstances in which many women find their jobs through community publications many women continued to be cheated, and an increasing number of women are abused by private agencies who assist them in their employment process. Thus the offices involved should tighten their monitoring of private agencies.
- District-based employment offices should be opened, professional counselors should be allocated, and the functions of local governing bodies should be strengthened in close cooperation with national and public offices
The survey shows the different functions of local government's public employment offices. One of the most essential services performed by local governing bodies is the provision of job placement and counselling services under the current uncertain and insecure economic crisis. It is highly desirable that women be provided with a variety of job information by local public employment offices.
- Professionalism and continuous counselling by public employment offices should be ensured
Both the unemployed women and the job counselors themselves often feel the presence of two few counselors and of their lack of professional training. Interviews with job counselors show that counselors themselves face job insecurity since they are employed under one-year contracts.
In some foreign countries, these jobs are stable and the officers are not moved to other government departments or other regions because their tasks are graded as highly professional and their performance is desirable. The number of counselors should be increased and their professionalism and long-term employment should be guaranteed in the very near future.
- Managing the function of the public employment office to guarantee the number of recruiters
In terms of the types of occupations performed by women, they are usually insecure and in very small-size firms, the offices involved should therefore strengthen their supervision and monitoring of the activities of recruiters. In addition, recruiters for women should be guaranteed. Most desirable would be to activate all recruitment through public employment offices and to include a maximum of job information on its homepages: systemization is required.
- The current counseling atmosphere should be improved immediately.
Based on survey results, many offices are very noisy. Their offices are shared with other sections. The counselling atmosphere is very noisy and disturbing to the unemployed women because the various offices are not separated. Women replied that they felt uneasy because they had to try to read others' minds. Clearly, the counselling atmosphere including face-to-face counselling should be improved.
- Distribution of job information should be immediately expanded to Working Women's Houses and other non-governmental organizations
This is a matter of data processing and networking on issues of employment with government and NGOs cooperation under the current situation of mass unemployment. Sharing information facilitates job placement and upgrades the quality of counselors. This also promotes the effective development of softwares based on sharing information and experiences in the workplace.
The government has already planned to direct its efforts toward the improvement of 'the establishment of cooperative systems between educational organizations and those related to job placement' in its project of data processing and distribution of job-related information. Its range should be immediately expanded to working Women's Houses and free job agencies.
- Basic goals for public employment offices responsible for job placement should be established