Ministry of Health and Welfare identifies senior-appropriate positions, plans nationwide expansion after standardizing business models
![The "Noeikjjang Festival," a public participation event where visitors can learn about and experience senior employment opportunities firsthand, is being held at Seoul Plaza from Monday through Friday as part of "2026 Senior Jobs Week." [Korea Senior Human Resources Development Institute]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/22/news-p.v1.20260922.b1e4c8cdfaf64ad8b639cfb31706f75a_P1.jpg)
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Tuesday it had selected eight new senior employment positions drawing on the experience and expertise of retirees, including roles in financial counseling and pre-release legal support.
The ministry evaluated 31 pilot projects on criteria including suitability for older workers, social value, participant competency, demand from potential employers and potential for nationwide expansion before selecting the new positions.
Among those chosen was a role called the "small business policy finance support team," run by the Gwangju Nam-gu Senior Club, in which older workers with backgrounds in finance — including retired banking professionals — help local small-business owners navigate government policy funding.
Participants visit small businesses directly to provide consultations on policy loans and assist with online applications, while also monitoring and reporting illegal or improper conduct related to policy funding.
The top prize went to a "recycled picture book teaching aid project" run by the Wonju Senior Club, in which older workers repurpose discarded picture books into educational materials and donate them to care facilities.
Other newly identified positions include managing national memorial facilities, producing multilingual content for foreign tourists, providing legal and social reintegration support for soon-to-be-released inmates, serving as smoking-cessation instructors, helping individuals write personal memoirs, and monitoring aviation safety around airports.
The ministry plans to standardize the business models for the eight newly selected positions and roll them out across the country in ways suited to local conditions.
Since 2019, a total of 78 senior-appropriate new employment positions have been selected.
Choi Bong-geun, the ministry's director general for elderly policy, said the government would "continue to identify new jobs that make use of the experience and capabilities of older adults, and provide support so that successful programs can take firm root in communities across the country."
thlee@heraldcorp.com
