Unlike most high school students facing long hours of study and an uncertain future, Park Hye-jin already has a job lined up for when she finishes school.

“As a tech high school student, my No. 1 priority was to work right after I graduate. I am happy that my dream has come true,” said the senior student at Sangseo Girls’ Information High School. She will work as a teller at Woori Bank.

Park is one of a growing number of high school graduates opting for a route straight to work as the government and businesses are trying to increase job opportunities for them.

The government is supporting vocational high schools who train students in specialized industrial skills in an effort to cut youth unemployment and bridge gaps between jobs and skilled workers, which is threatening to undercut the productivity of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

High on President Lee Myung-bak’s policy agenda is tackling imbalance in supply and demand of labor, stemming from “academic inflation,” where people receive more education than what their vocation requires.

“Academic inflation has elevated private tuition costs, created excessive competition in education, a soaring level of highly educated youth and labor shortage problems,” Lee said in a recent National Assembly address.

The Lee administration launched an elite technical school program, called Meister schools, in 2008, offering select vocational high schools with various incentives, including full scholarships and job advantages. There are 35 Meister high schools that are currently in operation.

The measure, aiming to close the gap between job and skill mismatching and curtail disdain on the less educated, is bearing fruit ― exemplified by Pyeongtaek Mechanical and Technical High School specializing in automobile manufacturing.

All 142 seniors of this Meister institute have confirmed their employment with various local companies operating in the industrial city near Seoul.

“We are getting an exceptional result because we’ve carefully designed our classes. We’ve done several surveys to see what companies wanted and needed in their future employees and followed those data,” Lee Heui-tae, a teacher from the school, said.

The government helps arrange partnerships between Meister schools and companies in their area of specialty. The students who attend these schools learn practical skills needed to work in these companies and are guaranteed jobs with them upon graduation.

“One of the most important criteria we look for in selecting Meister schools is whether they can reform their classes to train students in skills that are demanded by firms,” said Chi Hye-jin, an Education Ministry official. “We also make sure that the schools have made enough contracts with companies that are in demand of schools’ specialty.” 

Chi said the scheme has become increasingly popular among students due to a guaranteed career path as well as an opportunity to study later to broaden their knowledge in the area of their specialty. The average acceptance rate per applicant for Meister high schools rose from 2.99:1 in 2011 to 3.55:1 in 2012, according to the ministry.

In tandem with the government efforts, businesses are increasingly embracing industry-ready graduates, which also help them secure skilled workers at lower cost.

Businesses have complained that local universities fail to produce talents with practical skills for work, forcing them to conduct extra training for their employees.

“The current labor market is shifting significantly with the government encouraging firms to employ technical and Meister high school graduates,” said an official from the public relations department at Woori Bank.

The bank hired 200 high school graduates in March. She said this move would hopefully contribute to society’s positive perception toward high school graduates.

In March, Hanwha Group, Korea’s 10th largest conglomerate, hired 516 high school graduates and admitted another 684 second-year high school students to its internship program to provide them with hands-on experience in a real work environment.

“Although it is true that a lot of high school graduates are put into the service and production divisions of the company, there have been more recruitment opportunities for both high school graduates and college graduates who will work for the same department,” an official from the human resources department said.

“We also try to acknowledge each and every employee’s work competence rather than looking at the level of education they received.”

But the new drive still faces an uphill struggle in a society which highly values education and intelligence.

A recent survey showed a majority of businesses are still negative toward hiring people with lower education. In a survey of 310 domestic companies by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 73.5 percent said the numbers of their intake of high school graduates were unchanged during the last two to three years and 5.5 percent have lowered their numbers.

About their plans to hire high school graduates, 33.6 percent said they will increase the number, 65.8 percent expect to keep the current level and 0.6 percent said the figure is likely to be lowered.

But 44.2 percent said the work capability of high school gradates has improved compared to three years before and 49.7 percent said there was no significant change.

Another glass ceiling remains in the workplace: Those with high school diplomas often experience poorer working conditions, more limited opportunities for promotion and lower incomes than university graduates.

According to 2011 government data, the monthly average income for high school graduates in their 20s was 1,455,000 won ($1272.96), 427,000 won lower than that of university graduates. The average work week for high school graduate employees was 45 hours while university graduate employees worked 37.2 hours per week.

This widespread inequality and the deep-rooted prestige for higher learning force many high school graduates to pursue college courses while working.

“I want to continue my education while working as a bank teller to receive a university degree,” Jo Ji-young, another senior student at Sangseo Girls’ Information High School.

High school grads tend to struggle and quit their jobs after one or two years of working mostly because they feel the need to pursue university degrees, said Park Sung-ha, a teacher from the school.

“The government should not only increase job positions for youth, but they should also reduce inequalities that exist in the workplace for high school graduates,” he said.

Kim Il-hwan, a teacher from Korea Bio Meister High School, said most high school graduates are now guaranteed “job first, study second,” by companies so they can further their education while at the company.

“Most companies that employ our students provide scholarships so that they can continue their education to acquire university degrees,” Kim said. “They usually work for five days and spend Saturdays attending classes.”

The perception of high school graduate employment is becoming increasingly positive among Korean citizens and private companies but the less educated still face deeply seated prejudices, said Yoon Hyung-han, an associate research fellow at Korean Research Institute For Vocational Education & Training.

Yoon criticized Korea’s high university admission rate. “Students often bite the bullet and apply for college but it is important to note that not all job positions require college degrees,” Yoon said.

“An individual’s level of education does not ultimately reflect his or her ability to work but this way of thinking is still deeply rooted in Korea’s rigid social model.”

“More research must be done in order to foresee future employment situations, but if our government continues to support they youth with various policies such as the Youth Employment Success Project, it’s hopeful that things will change for the better."

The Ministry of Employment and Labor implemented the YES Project in March to provide more practical assistance to unemployed youth. YES is a six-month program that provides counseling support, job skills training, internship programs and employment referral services to unemployed people ages 15-29.

The Seoul Job Center official said most participants in the YES project were hired before the end of the six-month project and several hands-on experiences that the project provides such as the internship program has helped young people greatly.

By Lee Hee-su (hs@heraldcorp.com)