Daejeon job fair connects 2,000 youth with middle-market enterprises

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the 2026 Middle-Market Enterprise Job Fair at the Daejeon Convention Center to connect approximately 2,000 job seekers with 66 regional middle-market companies. Participating firms represent key sectors including semiconductors (YC, Nepes Ark), biotechnology (Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Huons Group), and machinery (SIMPAC).

This initiative aims to address labor shortages in regional companies and promote youth employment outside the capital region. The government is expanding support systems, such as extending the Youth Job Leap Grant to non-metropolitan middle-market enterprises and increasing the allocation of industrial technical personnel from two to five per company.

Historically, these job fairs have supported over 9,000 placements across 12 events. The Ministry plans to announce the ‘Middle-Market Enterprise Growth Ladder 2030’ strategy later this year to further strengthen the foundation for these companies, which currently account for 13.9% of total employment in South Korea.