In this file photo taken Nov. 11, 2020, jobseekers look around booths of a job fair in the Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 28 (Korea Bizwire) — A bill to revise the Recruitment Procedure Act towards including a provision that requires employers to notify failed job candidates why they were rejected has been proposed in the National Assembly.
The bill comes at a time in which many job seekers are raising voices about the need to force companies to disclose the reasons why unsuccessful candidates were not selected.
The bill contains a provision that makes it mandatory for employers to inform the jobseeker of the reason why they were not hired within 14 days from the date of request by the rejected candidate.
In addition, the bill also requires the Ministry of Employment and Labor to conduct an investigation every year to verify whether the notification duty has been properly implemented, as well as to disclose a list of the companies that have violated the regulation.
In a survey last year of 825 job seekers conducted by job portal Saramin, 82.2 percent of respondents said that they want to receive feedback with respect to the reason why they failed in interviews.
This bill drew a positive response from some, but not from a majority of job seekers and corporate HR staff.
“What makes us unhappy is not because we don’t know the reason of rejection but because the number of jobs is not sufficient. I’m worried that this bill could exacerbate the issues already being felt in the job market,” said a 25-years-old job seeker surnamed Kim.
From the perspective of companies, the new bill could add a greater burden in the recruitment process, which could prompt some to hire fewer workers or set higher standards even from the document review stage.
They also can shift towards frequent recruitment sessions centered on career workers.
“It’s difficult to standardize since the type of talent wanted by companies is different. Furthermore, there is a limit to restricting private companies’ recruiting through a public sphere,” said Oh Jun-beom, a senior researcher at Hyundai Research Institute.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
