Policy Review

Encore Life Plan,
Helping Retirees Stay Active
with Rewarding Work

Encore Life Plan Work as an Inclusive Policy

Senior citizens with the ability and will to work can now continue being part of the
workforce. Encore Life Plan is an employment program for older, but still capable,
low-income seniors or seniors who just want to continue contributing to society.
It aims to provide dynamic opportunities to seniors, helping them lead happier lives.
Retirement is not about leaving the work of a lifetime.
It’s about finding new work to do, to open the next chapter of your life.
What would you propose if you were one of them?

Written by Park Jee-un, Editor Photos courtesy of Yonhap News Agency

There’s No Retirement From Life :
Lifelong Planning Policies

The aging of Korea’s baby boomer generation, born between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s, is only beginning. The developments of modern medicine and technologies are rapidly extending life expectancies, expected soon to reach the 100-year mark. The typical retirement age is 65, but this is not an age to retire from life. In fact, you never retire from life.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) recently announced its plan to expand the number of jobs for the elderly from the current 467,000 to 800,000 by 2022. The second Comprehensive Plan for Senior Jobs and Social Activity aims to generate quality jobs for the elderly between 2018 and 2022, and to combat reduced momentum in economic growth caused by the low birth rate and aging population.

The Encore Life Plan is a joint initiative by the MOHW’s Korea Labor Force Institute for the Aged, other administrative organizations and local self-governing bodies. It goes beyond the quantitative expansion of jobs for the elderly, which earlier policies tried to do, and hopes to provide quality jobs and realize its goals across 19 projects in four areas, including capacity building and enhanced protection of participants, the expansion of infrastructure and stable private sector jobs, and job support for social contributions.

Capacity Building, Protection and Matching Services

A key component of the Encore Life Plan is a jobs-matching system based on an evaluation of the participant’s skills and capabilities.

Existing participants in the senior jobs program find jobs in their region and upload them to Baeksenuri, a senior jobs website, allowing their information to reach interested parties.

The Senior Welfare Centers and Senior Clubs are designated as “matching plus” centers, providing a full package of services, from consultations based on an individual’s capacities and plans, through to integrated training and employment programs, as well as follow up services.

In order to expand the number of jobs for the elderly in the private sector, a quality management system for products made by elderly workers will be established and developed. Outstanding products made by the elderly will be placed under a shared brand, managed by the senior clubs and other organizations, to support their sale on TV shopping channels, online, and even for exports. A wide range of products made by the elderly are also being sold under a common brand name at the Hanahanamall.com shopping website.

The plan expands jobs for seniors who wish to contribute to society. Jobs that complement social and public services, such as instructors, special lecturers or joint caretakers for individuals with dementia, will be created for retired professionals with relevant career experience.

The policy also includes recruiting elderly participants at workplaces, developing activity programs and sites and improving the treatment of personnel in charge of managing these activities.

Wages of personnel in charge of programs will be raised incrementally, and the period of employment will be increased from 11 months to 12, to enhance employment stability and professional expertise.

We Need to Build a Country for Old People

The Encore Life Plan is not just a policy for seniors of today. Everyone will eventually reach retirement age and needs a plan for that new chapter in their lives. This is why the Encore Life Plan is for everyone. Your skills and abilities in your youth will be different from your skills and abilities as you get older. There are things you can’t do when you’re young, and things that you can only do after years of experience. These are contributions that only seniors can make. Let’s hope that the Encore Life Plan works as an inclusive policy for us all, turning Korea into an advanced nation with a strong welfare system that befits a nation that has a national per capita GDP above USD 30,000.