It is a job creation model for labor and management win-win cooperation and social integration. The regional labor, management, citizens, and government attempt to change the labor and management relationships and production methods through a great social compromise based on solidarity and innovation for the ultimate purpose of changing distorted working conditions by improving job quality and attracting new investments.

Gwangju citizens have high civic consciousness and solidarity with which they took the lead in searching for creative and righteous alternatives during every historical crisis in Korea. Gwangju has thus begun the Gwangju job project, which transcends the physical and regional space of Gwangju. The Gwangju job project has principles: adequate wages, adequate work hours, labor and management responsible administration, and better relationships between prime and subcontractors Based on these principles, the project allows companies to increase their competitiveness and pursue sustainable growth, and laborers to pursue employment stabilization and a higher quality of life. Its ultimate goal is to contribute to improving citizens’ quality of life through social integration and activation of the regional economy.

The word “Gwangju” in the Gwangju job project does not refer to the region as a physical space. It comes from the “Gwangju Spirit” with which Gwangju citizens have searched for creative and righteous alternatives during every crisis of the times.
It also symbolizes win-win jobs for the region’s solidarity that are based on the high civic conscience and participation of Gwangju citizens.

In 2014, the Gwangju job project began from the creation of a city capable of manufacturing 1 million automobiles yearly promoted by the 6th popularly elected; throughout the term of the 6th popularly elected, it has been propelled as a core policy of Gwangju City. In September, 2014, the Social Integration Bureau was created exclusively for the Gwangju job project; In June, 2017, 22 organizations from regional labor, management and citizen groups and government agencies participated to conclude “Gwangju-Type Job Job Framework Agreement” for the realization of a Gwangju-type job model; In July, a Gwangju-type Job model was included in the 100 government projects of the Moon Jae-in administration.

In June, 2018, Hyundai Motors Co. Ltd. submitted the declaration of intent for investment in CBU factory establishment in Gwangju, which was followed by agreements between Gwangju City and Hyundai Motors and direct conversations with labor groups for investment agreement. Afterwards, on December 5, 2018, a temporary investment agreement was drawn, but it foundered just before the investment agreement signing ceremony scheduled on the 6th.

On January 30, 2019, the Labor, Management, Citizen, and Government Committee voted for the resolution of a draft of agreement regarding the effective period of matters decided by the co-development joint council, along with activation of the regional economy and continuous job creation; on January 31st, an investment agreement ceremony between Gwangju City and Hyundai Motors, the first event of the Gwangju job project, was held in the presence of various personnel from Gwangju City, Hyundai Motors, and the central government, including President Moon.

In early stages of the Gwangju job project, the focus was on the public sector., The Gwangju job project propelled the introduction of living wages to improve laborers’ quality of life, the enactment of an ordinance to improve laborers’ rights and interests, and the changing of part-time employees into full-time employees in the public sector, which was the first attempt in the nation.
In the first half of 2018, certification standards were created for the discovery and training of companies for Gwangju-type jobs. private companies that actively shared and realized the purpose of Gwangju-type Jobs, through stable labor-management relationships based on social communication, were certified, discovered, and educated as Gwangju-Type Job Companies. In 2018, two companies – Haitai Confectionary and Foods Co., Ltd. Gwangju Factory and Maeil Dairies Co., Ltd. – were selected as certified companies (pioneering companies).

On January 31, 2019, Gwangju City and Hyundai Motors concluded an investment agreement to propel joint venture establishment of CBU factory as the first and second shareholders, respectively, through joint investment with private companies, with the goal of mass production of automobiles in the second half of 2021 . CBU factory is slated to be established on the 6 -km2 land with yearly production capability of 100,000 units; once the factory is completed, approximately 1,000 full-time employees will be on duty. With indirect employment added, around 10,000 to 12,000 jobs are expected to be created.

Automobiles to be produced are compact SUVs below 1,000cc (Gasoline); average first year wage of all workers in the new corporation is expected to be around 35 million KRW (44-hour work week). Hyundai Motors, participating in the new corporation as a shareholder member, will make consignment sale of new automobile productions, manage factory construction and production, and support various technology, such as quality control. And the central government and Gwangju City will provide accommodations, transportations, and joint welfare programs related to education and culture, improving the real income level and quality of life for the laborers.

Yes. During the IMF crisis in 1997, factory utilization of Yuhan-Kimberly had dropped down by half. Yuhan-Kimberley was in the crisis between maintenance and bankruptcy, with inevitable mass dismissal. However, Yuhan-Kimberly did not dismiss a single laborer; instead, the company increased hiring by changing the system of double shift by three teams into double shift by four teams, in a form of ‘labor sharing’. As a result, labor productivity increased, defect rate decreased, and the market share increased. Mun Gukhyeon, CEO of Yuhan-Kimberley at the time, attended 2016 Gwangju-Type Job Conference (December 6) and said that it took “5 years to communicate and agree with the board of directors, 2 years to persuade and make an agreement with the labor union; even since then, the communication has continued.” In other words, it took him nearly 10 years to implement an innovative policy with goals similar to the those of Gwangju-type Jobs, such as job sharing, transparent management, and mutual growth of prime and subcontractors.

Yes. Some famous cases include Wassenaar Agreement of Netherlands and Auto 5000 of Germany. The Netherlands reduced work hours to create more jobs through a great social compromise between labor, management, and the government. Volkswagen of Germany had planned to relocate its factory to overseas countries, yet cancelled it following a great social compromise, establishing an independent corporation and hiring 3,500 employees with a monthly wage of 5,000 marks. The monthly wage of 5,000 marks is 20% lower than the average monthly wage in Volkswagen and 30% higher compared to the per capita monthly income in Germany.

Overseas cases of job creation through a great social compromise