Korean students learn about the practice of MainArbeit

Labor market policy, citizens' income and the practice of the municipal MainArbeit job center were the focus of a visit by a group of students from the Technical University of Korea in Siheung, South Korea. The former Managing Director of MainArbeit, Dr. Matthias Schulze-Böing, explained the legal framework of the basic income support system for jobseekers, the role of employment promotion in the citizen's income and the experiences to date with the original law that came into force in 2005 in connection with the Hartz reforms.

Susanne Pfau, Managing Director of the job center, presented the practice of counselling and job placement and also addressed current challenges such as digitalization, the integration of migrants and the promotion of target groups such as single parents. The Korean students from a new degree course in labor market services at Korea Tech University, which was only created a few years ago, were particularly interested in methods of job counseling and job placement.

MainArbeit has maintained contacts with Korea for over ten years and is regarded there as a good example of the implementation of a local and municipal approach to labor market policy. In this context, Dr. Matthias Schulze-Böing has been invited to Korea several times for conferences and lectures. Following his retirement at the end of 2020, this cooperation has intensified further. In a book on active labor market policy in Europe published in Korean at the beginning of this year, for example, he was responsible for an extensive chapter on Germany. "Labor market policy does not have as long a tradition in Korea as it does in Germany. It was not until the end of the 1990s that a labor administration was established and it was not until 2021 that a system of activating basic benefits comparable to the German SGB II was introduced," explains Schulze-Böing. He is particularly impressed by the dynamism with which South Korea is approaching the modernization of labor market policy. They are always open to innovation and are constantly looking closely at the experiences in Europe, Australia and the USA in order to develop the best system for their own country.

City Treasurer and Head of Social Affairs Martin Wilhelm is pleased about the exchange with the university. "Learning from each other and broadening your own horizons is important. Through the exchange with the students from Korea, we are also looking at our own processes from a different perspective and strengthening and maintaining contacts with exciting partners."