Reverse Discrimination
The employment of university graduates in blue collar positions is emerging as a hot issue in various industries. The controversy was triggered in May, when the National Human Rights Commission announced that hiring mainly high school graduates in such positions constitutes reverse discrimination.
The majority of manufacturing companies in Korea, including Hyundai Motor Company, SK Energy, GS Caltex, and the Samsung Group, have limited blue collar jobs to high school and two-year college graduates. Although the government has rarely restricted the unlawful practice in view of the importance of subjective evaluations in recruitment, the companies are finding it hard to change their criteria according to the law, because they could be criticized as giving no opportunities for high school graduates.
The labor community and technology education experts have criticized the organization’s recommendation, too. The criticism is based on the possibility of a decreased employment rate for high school graduates and less expertise of the workers. The high school graduate employment rate, which had been as high as 62.3 percent in 2008, fell to 61.1 percent last year.
“Preferential treatment in favor of those with assets, whether diplomas or properties, is the real discrimination,” said senior research analyst Hwang Seon-ja at the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, adding, “Employment of university graduates in manufacturing jobs is not just a waste of national resources but also an undesirable measure which could turn the job market into a battlefield.”
Nevertheless, many people are supporting the recommendation and law revision to comply with it. The basis of their argument consists of the fast-rising university admission rate and ever-deteriorating youth unemployment. “The expansion of the scope of employment will be of great help for university graduates who are struggling to find a job,” said Park Ji-soon, a Korea University Law School professor. According to the Korea Statistics Office, the university admission rate soared from 38.4 percent to 70.7 percent between 1993 and 2013.
Korea Labor Institute Senior Researcher Keum Jae-ho echoed by saying, “Even though academic inflation should be addressed by giving more jobs to those without college diplomas, a discriminatory treatment based on an academic career is also a wrong practice that has to be eliminated right away.”