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Gov't raises mandatory hiring rate for people with disabilities to up to 4 percent

Published: 07 Oct. 2025, 13:21

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon delivers congratulatory remarks at the kickoff meeting of a task force drawing up a roadmap to reduce actual working hours, held at the LW Convention Center in Jung District, central Seoul, on Sept. 24. [YONHAP]

The government has increased the mandatory hiring rate for people with disabilities to as high as 4 percent, aiming to expand job opportunities.

Under new measures announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Oct. 1, private sector businesses will be required to fill 3.5 percent of their workforce with people with disabilities by 2029, while the rate for the public sector will be raised to 4 percent.

The rule will be implemented in phases, increasing the private sector's mandatory rate from the current 3.1 percent to 3.3 percent in 2027 and 3.5 percent in 2029.

The current rate for the public sector is 3.8 percent.

Every 0.2 percentage point increase in the mandatory rate translates to the hiring of 15,000 more people with disabilities in the private sector and 4,000 more in the public sector, according to the ministry.

Accordingly, the new rule is expected to raise private sector hiring of people with disabilities by 30,000 individuals by 2029 and public sector hiring by 4,000 individuals by the same year.

The employment rate among people with disabilities has declined every year, from 50.3 percent in 2022 to 49.8 percent in 2023 and 48.4 percent in 2024, according to the ministry.

That contrasts with a steady increase in the overall employment rate from 69.2 percent in 2022 to 69.9 percent in 2023 and 70 percent in 2024, it said.

Yonhap