Labor ministry's training institute to host forum on generational coexistence

The Korea Employment and Labor Education Institute said Friday it will hold an autumn academic conference with two research partners on Oct. 23 to discuss how labor education can help different generations coexist as Korea's workforce ages.

The ministry-affiliated institute, which runs labor education, school programs, training for employment and labor officials, and research, is organizing the event with the Korean Academy of Human Resource Management and the Hanyang Population Research Institute. The conference was organized in response to a changing employment and labor environment, including demographic shifts and aging, and a more diverse generational mix in the labor market, the institute said.

A session titled "Generational Coexistence and Employment and Labor Education" will examine the role of labor education in building understanding and cooperation across age groups, and how older workers are managed. Noh Yong-jin, a professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, will chair the session, which consists of three presentations followed by an expert panel discussion.

Oh Kye-taek, a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, will present research on labor education measures for personnel management that supports generational coexistence, proposing ways for labor education to ease differences in perception and conflict between generations and build a cooperative organizational culture. Kim Seong-hwan, a professor at the institute, will examine how labor education should evolve in what he calls the "Employment and Labor Education 2.0" era.

Shin Ga-hee, a researcher at the Korea Labor Institute, and Cho Hyun-bin, a professor at Hannam University, will look at how separate pay systems for older workers interact with training practices to affect organizational performance.

Jeon Yi-young, a professor at the institute, Chin Sook-kyung of the University of Seoul and Kim Suk-young of Incheon National University will serve as discussants.

"Amid changes in the population structure and the labor environment, understanding differences between generations and building cooperative labor-management relations is an important task our society must solve together," institute President Lee Jong-sun said. "I hope this conference serves as an opportunity to redefine the role of employment and labor education for generational coexistence and to seek educational solutions through which labor and management can grow together."

The institute said it will continue to strengthen cooperation with academics and field experts and to develop and spread employment and labor education programs that support generational coexistence and cooperative labor-management relations.