Gov't to slash 35,000 public sector jobs by 2012: official

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 6-9; CHANGES figure in headline, lead)
SEOUL, April 17 (Yonhap) -- The government is planning to cut nearly 35,000 jobs
at the nation's 305 state-run corporations and institutions by 2012, as part of
efforts to speed up public sector restructuring, a ranking official at the
presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.
The proposed staff reduction, if implemented, would affect about 13.5 percent of
some 259,000 public sector workers.
"Following the outbreak of the global economic crisis, a large-scale
restructuring is inevitable for a fresh takeoff of the South Korean economy,
apart from the job sharing scheme in the private sector," said the Cheong Wa Dae
official.
"Detailed payroll cuts in the public sector will be finalized by individual
corporations and institutions by the end of this month."
The ratio of job cuts will vary from 10 percent to 15 percent, depending on the
circumstances of the concerned entities, he noted.
The official explained that the number of public sector employees will actually
shrink by 23,000 in net terms, as about 12,000 public workers will be relocated
to the private sector through the privatization of their employers.
Besides the workforce reduction, public corporations will be asked to take other
measures to downsize their organizations and improve business efficiency, he
said.
Heads of state-run corporations and institutions are scheduled to meet at Cheong
Wa Dae Saturday to report their restructuring plans to President Lee Myung-bak,
he added.
Another presidential aide said the government will gradually scale down the
public sector workforce over the next four years in a bid to prevent mass layoffs
and soften resistance from labor unions at the related public companies.
Since his inauguration in February last year, the Lee administration has strived
to overhaul the bloated structure of state-run enterprises and other public
entities accused of loose and inefficient management and wasteful spending of
taxpayer money.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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