Seoul career-return program becomes key pathway for women re-entering workforce

Kim Hyeon-a, 33, has been raising a 4-year-old child and working as an intern at a b-boying group management company since May — her first return to professional life in three years after leaving her job at a bank. This time, she drew on her academic background in dance, which she studied as an undergraduate, and cultural arts, which she pursued in graduate school. "At some point life started to feel empty, and I thought I might lose the ability to work altogether — that's what pushed me to start again," Kim said. "More than anything, the internship gave me the courage to believe I could work again."

Nam Ji-hyeon, 35, began interning at a space-rental platform company last month and was already assigned to a major project within a month. A three-year career gap that began with a pregnancy in 2023 faded the moment she stepped back into the workplace — the six years of professional know-how she had built before leaving came flooding back. She works Monday, Thursday and Friday from home, three days a week, allowing her to balance childcare alongside her job. "I wanted to go back to work because I knew that the longer I stayed out, the harder it would be to return — but AI had been introduced while I was away and so much had changed that I kept worrying whether I could really pull it off," Nam said. "The internship gave me confidence."

Kim and Nam share something in common: both are "career-holding women" — a term that replaced the older legal designation "career-interrupted women" — who returned to work through the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Seoul Career-Up Project. The term "career-interrupted women," previously used in law, was changed this year to "career-holding women" on the grounds that the original was discriminatory.

The Seoul Career-Up Project matches professionally experienced women with high-growth companies that have hiring needs, providing those companies with wage subsidies at the living-wage level for two to three months. Now in its third year, the program has seen growing interest from applicants and rising re-employment rates each year, establishing itself as a major pathway for women returning to work.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Sunday, 210 of the 325 women who participated in internships over the past three years (2023–2025) — or 64.6 percent — secured employment through the city's connections. An additional 17 interns from last year found jobs this year, pushing the cumulative employment rate to 69.8 percent as of March. Demand for the internship has also grown. The city expanded its internship quota each year — 100 in 2023, 105 in 2024 and 120 in 2025 — while the number of applicants far exceeded those slots: 256 in 2023, 242 in 2024 and 352 in 2025.

Companies that have taken part also report high satisfaction. An official at Webbright, an advertising firm that hired an intern through the program, said experienced candidates adapt quickly. "Because we're hiring people who already have a career background, they have what you'd call professional instincts and get up to speed fast," the official said, adding that the company has already asked the city for one more placement.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will continue the program in the second half of this year. Starting Tuesday, it will recruit participants for the third and fourth rounds of the 2026 Seoul Career-Up Internship, selecting 80 interns across 20 companies. Eligible host companies must be small and medium-sized enterprises that operate flexible work arrangements such as staggered hours, part-time schedules or remote work. Women with at least one year of work experience may apply.

Small and medium-sized enterprises that hire an intern as a full-time employee — or on a contract of at least one year — after the internship ends will receive an additional employment incentive of 3 million won ($2,040). Internships run for two to three months at 20 to 40 hours per week. Open positions span planning, marketing, public relations, design, business administration and IT development, with placements beginning on a rolling basis next month.

A Seoul Metropolitan Government official described the program as "a system that gives career-holding women the courage and opportunity to step back into society," and urged women to apply for the third and fourth rounds as actively as they did for the first and second. "Seoul will stand firmly beside women and companies as they grow together," the official added.