• 한국사회정책
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2016

This study evaluates the strategic capacity of Korean labor union movement by examining policy alternatives and strategic steps that the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have shown in response to Park Geun-Hye government's labor market structuring policies. While the government-led labor reform was carried out as intended, organized labor has not simply failed to achieve progressive labor reforms to enhance employment security, but also to exert their strategic capacity effectively for preventing Park's labor market flexibilization policies. The two national centers have not been able to exert their strategic capacity (such as intermediating, framing, articulating, learning) for mobilizing the resources of internal solidarity, network embeddedness, narrative discourse, and organizational infrastructure. In particular, the formation and diffusion of public discourse is a significant part of strategic capacity of labor unions dealing with the labor politics of labor market restructuring, since organized labor, which is under the unfavorable constraints of limited movement resources and power imbalance with the business circle, needs to mobilize massive support and participation from union members and civil society organizations. In this light, it becomes of more importance for labor union movement to exert their strategic capacity toward internal solidarity and network embeddedness in the stage of labor market reforms. Under the recent stage of labor reforms, however, the labor unions has not harnessed their movement resources effectively, but undertaken their protest in a traditional manner, thereby losing its public efficacy from inside and outside. Moreover, it is necessary to build and activate the network of organic solidarity among organized labor, civil society organizations and progressive political parties, in order to cope with the pro-business coalition of power elites for accomplishing pro-labor reforms.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.61-95
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• 2003

This paper investigates the characteristics of Japanese vocational education and training(VET) system and its recent changes with regard to the labour market changes under the long-term economic depression. The employment system model of Marsden(1999) is used as an analytical framework. By the review of 'the debate of intellectual skill', it is pointed out that the fundamental characteristic of Japanese VET system lies in forming multi-functional workers by the internal promotion in connection with the OJT-focused enterprise training along the job-competency rank system. In this system 'the skill as work-competency' is not institutionalised. By the long-term depression this type of internal labour market (ILM) has been under serious changes. By the policy analyses it is made clear that the direction of its change is not toward the collapse of the ILM. A series of labor market and VET policies does aim at sustaining the ILM by the introduction of the unified job qualification system, which is expected to institutionalise the widening external labour market into the craft-based labour market.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.107-156
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• 2018

This article examines the history of the in - house subcontracting and the stabilization of labor - management relations in the steel industry in Japan. The ratio of in-house subcontract workers among steel workers has increased steadily until the mid-2000s, and about 70% in case of the largest company. In-house subcontracting was used as a strategy of the company to increase the quantity flexibility of employment and to save labor costs. The in-house subcontracting company needed company-specialized skills, and the internal labor market was formed because the rate of full-time workers was high and the turnover rate was low. The in-house subcontractor introduced long-term business relationship with the steel factory by introducing the equipment and materials necessary for the performance of the work, and the factory implemented the productivity improvement policy of the in-house subcontractor, and the win-win relationship between the factory and in-house subcontractor was developed. The trade union did not oppose the idea that the expansion of in-house subcontracting contributed to corporate profits, the stability of employment of the members and maintenance of their working conditions. Since 2000, the steel factory has pursued the transformation of in - house subcontractors into subsidiaries, which has been supported by capital relations. By the way, since the mid-2000s, there has been an increase in the number of regular workers' employment. The major factors are as follows: more strengthened compliance with laws and regulations, the higher quality request of customers, stricter keeping of deadlines, and problem in recruiting of workers at in-house subcontract companies. The wage gap between the factory and in - house subcontracting was less at company B than at company S, and the wage level of in - house subcontracting was about 90% of the factory at company B. The relatively small gap at company B seems to be due to the union's movement of narrowing the gap, low market dominance and unfavorable labor market. The internal labor market has been formed in the in-house subcontracting, and the wage gap is not large, and the possibility of labor disputes is low. Industrial relations are stable in the in-house subcontract company as well as the factory. The stabilization of labor-management relations in the steel industry in Korea is required to reduce the wage gap between the factory and in-house subcontract enterprises by raising productivity and expanding the internal labor market at in-house subcontract enterprises.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.105-137
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• 2013

This paper proposes to examine the relationship between the two trade unions of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) - those of the regular workers and of the in-house subcontract workers - around the issue of converting irregular workers to regular ones, which has been a social issue for a long time, and, furthermore, to find a desirable solution. The politics of the in-house subcontracting rotate around three axes: the conflictive collusion between the company and the regular workers'union regarding the internal labor market; the exclusion and resistance between the company and the subcontract workers'union; and the solidaristic conflict relationship between the two unions. After the final decree by the supreme court in 2012 the conflict and collusion/solidarity relationship of the three social actors have been amplified in scale - the continuous limping of the special bargaining between the company and the unions, the intensified conflict between the company and the subcontract workers'union, and the crisis of the collusion between the branches of the two unions are all evidence of this. A clue to the solution to the issues of in-house subcontracting in HMC can be found through reestablishment of the relationship among the three actors. In order to solve the in-house subcontracting issues in HMC, phased and lawful switching from irregular to regular positions, improvement of working conditions for the irregular workers, integration of the two unions (realization of 'one company one union'), and negotiated flexibility in the internal labor market will be required. Also to be considered are installation of a special committee for the issue, and utilization of external consultants. The result would be the possibility for the corporate labor market of HMC to be composed of regular workers, legal contract workers and directly-employed contract workers, which could be realized through bilateral relations of 'the labor and management conflict partnership'.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.177-208
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• 2011

This article examines that how in-house subcontract has been introduced and developed in metal industry in 1970s, focusing typical workplaces in steel industry. That was essential for the capital to insure control mechanism for large number of laborer because of mobilizing a large scale of capital in industrialization of heavy metal industry. In case of Pohang steel industry, this necessity was fulfilled by introduction and imitation of Japanese personnel management by being included of Japanese economic hinterland. This was embodied in both constructing internal labor market for regular workers and introducing in-house subcontracting system for contingent workers at workplaces. This was exceptional comparing in-house subcontracting system in Korean steel industry with in-house subcontracting system in advanced economies, because of disappearing in-house subcontracting system by making internal labor market. And this was closely linked by late development of Korea. Implications of Pohang steel company's case are as follows : first, late development effect in formation of employment system, second, in linking informality of Korean employment system. This implications mean that in-house subcontracting in steel industry is structured as mechanism for personnel management in large factory being influenced by industrialization of heavy industry. In this point, improvements which include wide economic solution beyond labor solution for present problem of in-house subcontracting system is desirable.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.78
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• pp.177-205
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• 2016

This study set out to investigate the reality of local press and changes to the occupational identity of reporters through the job mobility of reporters at local newspapers. The study examined what reasons the reporters had when they retired from one of three paper newspapers in Daejeon, where they moved to, and how their career mobility was. Some of them remained in the field of journalism including paper newspapers of the same kind and Internet newspapers, and others moved to various areas including politics, administration, academy, economy, and culture and art. The biggest number of them said they left their old paper newspapers because of poor wages and welfare benefits and absence of future visions. Their decision of leaving their old paper newspapers was also influenced by restructuring, restrictions to coverage and reporting, and great workload. Before the IMF foreign currency crisis in 1997, the press labor market was a typical internal labor market with the practitioners joining a newspaper in open recruitment and climbing up the promotion ladder from a common reporter through Deputy Head and Head of a department to Director of a bureau. The emergence of new media and the financial difficulties of newspaper corporations were currently making the internal labor market worse. Reporters made active use of social capital such as regionalism, alumni ties, and news beats rather than changing jobs by increasing their professionalism through self-development, thus causing side effects including the weakened supervision and criticism functions of local newspapers and damaging their occupational identity as reporters.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.57
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• pp.84-108
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• 2012

This article is concerned with exploring labour market transformation in newspaper industry and thereby looking into skill formation and professionalization of journalists. In Korea, according to previous research, newspaper journalist labour market had been characterized by a low inter-firm mobility of workers and patterns of long-term employment and firm-based skill training. However, over the past few years, as new product strategies of newspaper firms has changed due to management crisis employers pull back from the responsibilities of investment on skill training and securing job stability for journalists. However, in spite of overall weakened firm-based skill formation systems within the market, there still seems to be long way to build alternative systems of skill developments for them. As a result, it will be argued that, in the absence of manifest labor market institutions such as apprenticeships or skill certification system, which are assumed to traditionally certify workers' professionalization, occupational identity and professionality of newspaper journalist labour market will be weakened. Labor market data from interviews with journalists in the newspaper industry are used in order to test this hypothesis.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.55
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• pp.164-183
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• 2011

Technology innovation of digital convergence in recent years of the media sector has produced a series of significant changes in journalist labor. This study analyzes how recent introduction of convergent newsroom changed the nature of journalist labor and what strategy the management used to control journalists within the technologically innovated working condition with case of CBS. As the labor process theory tells us, the analysis found that technological innovation in the newsroom has encouraged a couple of aspects regarding labor process. First, losing control over their own labor journalists have undergone the process of significant deskilling. Second, the management have made a constant effort to introduce ideological and political apparatuses with twofold purposes, effective control over workers on one hand and concealing oppressive labor conditions on the other. The effort generated journalists' acceptance of new news-making routine and their consent on labor-management culture founded upon naive familism, which at last resulted in reinforcement of corporate power and isolation of labor society by separating internal labor market.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.385-396
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• 2006

The successful knowledge and information based companies facilitate to restructure the industry and strengthen the national competitiveness in the future. The advent of information age provides us new challenge because the information breakthrough can play a pivotal role in terms of knowledge transfer in the human resource management. Executive officer must present long term vision in order to expand enterprise continuously and establish long term management goal and strategy which are appropriate for key organizational skills of future management environment (Pfeffer, 1998). Also, long term talent management based on vision, goal and strategy and talent development strategy and employment management must be established (小池, 1994)). American HRM system's reformation cannot be defined without scientific management policy. However, currently widely discussed Japanese HRM system's reformation cannot be defined without organizational commitment focused Japanese employment system. (津田, 1992 ; 太田, 1994). Japan's development of the following policies are behind comparing to Europe : (1)Skill based talent management regardless of age, sex, nationality, race and academic background (2)Consideration of retirement age of 64 (3)Creativity and freedom promoting talent management policy. Also, there are problems to be solved. Solutions will be searched for by establishing new wage policy based on tasks and individuals in the basis of lifetime employment system.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.141-160
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• 2021

The scale of global FDI has been decreasing since 2016 due to the ongoing US-China trade dispute, the strengthening of FDI inflow screening regulations with concern over strategic technology leaks, and the spread of reshoring trends due to the reinforcement of national preferences. Eventually, the competition to attract FDI between countries is expected to become more intense. Therefore, in order to attract high-quality FDI for Korea that will contribute to the development of the national economy, it is pressing to evaluate and improve the domestic FDI attraction environment. This study aims to analyze which areas of Korea's economic and non-economic environments need improvement for gaining advantage amid the fierce competition to attract FDI between countries, by the relative comparison between Korea and the U.S., and based on the ranking indicated in key FDI attractiveness indices. As a result, improvement is needed in the following areas. First, according to IMD's "World Competitiveness Ranking 2020," Korea was inferior to the US in terms of business efficiency, productivity, finance and business legislation in terms of government efficiency. Second, according to INSEAD's "Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2020," Korea was inferior to the US in terms of internal openness, external openness, employability, lifelong learning, access to growth opportunity, and business and labor landscapes. Third, according to WEF's "Global Competitiveness Index 2019", Korea was inferior to the US in terms of product market, labor market, business dynamism and workforce skills.