Naver teams up with small IT firm to offer reemployment training for workers 40 and older

Naver has joined forces with small IT firm Onpum to offer reemployment training for employees aged 40 and older. More than 40 participants — drawn from Naver's development staff and Onpum's sales team — will assess their career trajectories and learn about reemployment and startup cases in the IT sector, as well as practical AI skills.

The Korea Labor Foundation announced Wednesday that it will run a two-day IT-sector reemployment training program at Naver's headquarters, starting Wednesday, targeting employees from both companies who are 40 or older and wish to participate. About 30 Naver developers and roughly 10 sales staff from Onpum, which provides disaster warning and alert solutions, are taking part.

The program runs for a total of 16 hours over two days. Participants will review their career direction through life planning and career asset assessments, examine reemployment and startup cases in the IT industry, and learn about government support programs. The curriculum also covers financial planning and job-search skills. AI application exercises and reemployment strategy sessions will be tailored to reflect participants' own work experience.

The training follows an MOU the foundation and Naver signed Aug. 19 to expand IT-sector reemployment support services and promote employment stability for middle-aged workers. Naver built an IT-specific reemployment support model through the foundation's corporate consulting program in 2024 and 2025, and received the Ministry of Employment and Labor minister's award last year. Onpum had struggled to run its own service due to limited budget and dedicated staff, but plans to use this joint consulting initiative as an opportunity to establish a system supporting employees' career transitions after retirement.

The reemployment support service is a system under the Act on Employment Promotion of the Elderly that provides career assessments, career planning, job placement and reemployment training to workers preparing to retire who meet certain eligibility requirements. Companies with 1,000 or more employees are required to offer the service. This year, the foundation began linking the operational experience of large companies with its own professional consulting to help small and medium-sized enterprises outside the mandatory scope run their own programs.

"This joint consulting initiative is a concrete example of ESG-driven cooperation, showing how our MOU with Naver has translated into real support for small and medium-sized enterprises," Korea Labor Foundation Secretary General Park Jong-pil said. "We will continue to connect the best operational practices of large companies with the foundation's expert consulting to strengthen the independent capabilities of smaller firms and steadily expand IT-sector reemployment support services."