KRIVET

Support Plans for Regional Human Resources Policies and Governance Building

1.       Support Plans for Regional Human Resources Policies to Achieve Balanced Regional Development

The purpose of regional human resources policies is to facilitate technological convergence within industry based on enhancement in the quality of human resources and, in turn, strengthen sustainable development and global capacity at the regional level. Regional human resources policies need a new framework led by regions, rather than the existing system led by the central government. Concurrently, capacity and infrastructure need to be built within regions to promote human resources policies. They need to be equipped to respond to changes in the future policy environment by integrating competence dispersed throughout various regions.

First, regions need to be supported to shift their focus from investing in the quantity of regional human resources to the quality of regional human resources. Regional human resources policies are faced with the imminent challenge of responding to the declining school-aged population and rapid digital transformation. Policies that enhance the quality of human resources are required at the regional level if the decline in population cannot be reversed. Furthermore, policies need to be able to respond to a reality where digital transformation constantly calls for new knowledge and skills of workers. In order to respond to such changes in the environment, regional human resources policies need to focus on enhancing the quality of their human resources during their lifecycle. In other words, policymakers of regional human resources policies need to explore development strategies through investment in the quality of human resources, discontinuing the old practice of promoting economic or social development through investment in the quantity of human resources.

It is important to foster human resources equipped with creativity and problem-solving skills and move away from the current practice of human resources development that offers universal knowledge and skills to human resources. Considering the fast-changing industrial demand for skills, regional human resources policies need to focus basically on capacity building for realistic challenges based on convergence and cooperation, rather than promote universal capacity.

Second, the convergence of technology and knowledge at industrial sites need to be supported. Promoting technological convergence to enable knowledge and skills at industrial sites to correspond to digital transformation is an essential agenda of regional human resources development strategy. The utilization of regional human resources in the future should consider not only the entry of new manpower into the labor market, but also the mismatch of the knowledge and skills of incumbent workers. A new industry-academia cooperation model, which integrates capacities of human resources from various fields into industry, is required to combine knowledge and technology at industrial sites and technological convergence. In other words, a new future human resources strategy needs to be developed so that the outcomes of research and development can facilitate the convergence and transformation of knowledge and technology at workplace.

Third, sustainable development at the regional level needs to be supported. Sustainable development can be achieved only when one can respond effectively to fast-changing industrial and employment structures and situations where the life span of knowledge and skills required at workplace is greatly shortened. Human resources policies at the regional level in the future can facilitate sustainable development only when the solidarity of regional communities is strengthened, as well as industrial productivity.

Fourth, global capacity building needs to be supported. Technological convergence at industrial sites and the enhancement of corporate productivity need to be evolved to a level where competitiveness can be secured at the global market. Concurrently, sustainable growth at the regional level can only be achieved when one can utilize its capacity at the global level. This, in turn, can be achieved when the global entry of companies and the global capacity of human resources are integrated. Consequently, regional human resources policies should serve as a foundation for Korea, a de facto developed nation, to move its way up the group of developed nations. An approach at the global level is also required for regional human resources development. Responding to the decline in the population and establishing a foundation to utilize global human resources is imperative in that it allows us to expand our intellectual power and capacity. Regional human resources policies need to place a strong emphasis on the capacity of global human resources, while also incorporating educational training and learning as global capacity.

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