Oh Se-hoon directs city officials to find new occupations for middle-aged workers as AI reshapes the employment landscape
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has directed city officials to proactively identify new occupations for middle-aged workers and strengthen tailored vocational training that leads to actual employment, as the rapid spread of AI reshapes the job market. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Oh issued the directive at a senior staff meeting Wednesday.
"Re-employment for middle-aged workers is an extremely important challenge," Oh said. "We must dramatically expand the Middle-Aged Job Academy the way we did the Youth Job Academy, and actively find new jobs suited to the AI era."
He added that while the AI era would eliminate existing jobs, it would also generate new forms of consumption and economic activity — and with them, entirely new occupations. "We need to search every corner for jobs that middle-aged workers can actually land, and develop the right curricula to match," he said.
Oh also called for moving away from one-size-fits-all training. "We need a 'high-variety, small-batch' approach — running diverse, small-scale programs tailored to actual hiring demand," he said, directing officials to carefully identify the skills and roles companies genuinely need in order to dramatically raise the job placement rate.
The directive reflects the city's view that as AI and digital transformation restructure existing jobs while creating new occupations and industries, Seoul must get ahead of the curve — identifying promising future roles for middle-aged workers and strengthening a support system that connects job-transition training all the way through to actual hiring.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to continuously analyze shifts in industrial structure and corporate hiring demand to identify suitable roles for middle-aged workers, and to expand practical curricula that combine existing career experience with AI and digital skills. The focus will go beyond simple certification to encompass corporate matching and post-placement follow-up, with the goal of producing tangible employment outcomes.
The directive followed Oh's attendance Tuesday at the Seoul Middle-Aged Job Fair 2026, where he heard firsthand accounts of workers who had successfully re-entered the workforce or launched businesses through the Middle-Aged Job Academy.
The city plans to extend such success stories across a wider range of occupations and to actively identify roles where demand is growing as industries and lifestyles evolve.
The Middle-Aged Job Academy, which launched in earnest in March, operates 113 tailored training programs and provides one-stop support covering career assessment and counseling, vocational training, and corporate matching. Run by the Seoul 50 Plus Foundation, it offers all employment-support services free of charge to Seoul residents between the ages of 40 and 64.
The academy has supported 5,111 people in finding jobs this year, a 45 percent increase — or 1,586 people — compared with the full-year figure of 3,525 last year, with an average training satisfaction score of 91 points. Building on these results, the city plans to keep expanding the Middle-Aged Job Academy through 2030, with the goal of completing a citywide network that puts employment support within 30 minutes of any resident, covering all autonomous districts.
In addition, the city is helping middle-aged residents prepare for the next chapters of their lives through Seoul Learn 4050, which supports AI and digital skills development, re-employment and entrepreneurship, and life planning.
"Through the expansion of the Middle-Aged Job Academy and tailored support, we will build a Seoul — a 'special city for quality of life' — where people can keep pursuing new challenges regardless of age and enjoy both the fulfillment of work and financial stability," Oh said.
ikson@heraldcorp.com
