▲ President Shin Hyang-sook

South Korea is fast reaching to an aging society like Japan. Many of retirees are the baby boomer generation born after the Korean War. The problem is that a considerable number of them seem to have no plan or idea for income after retirement but likely to fall into a day laborer. Establishment of the Senior Venture Association started from these concerns and currently is running various support programs.

Creating jobs for seniors
The Senior Venture Association is a non-profit organization affiliated to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The main projects of the association are creating jobs for seniors and/or help them start their own business. The association was established in August 2017 and opened a branch in Daegu in October 2018. Following the baton of the first president Gu Gun-seo, Shin Hyang-sook took the steering wheel as the second president in November last year and is creating a new vibration. 

“Korea made a miraculous economic advancement thanks to the senior members of our society who played core roles in large companies. They are now facing a retirement or losing a job from shake out and it might be a huge loss at national level losing this talented workforce. That’s why the Senior Venture Association has been introduced to give systematic support for them to start anew” says Shin.

Customized training and consulting programs
The Senior Venture Association Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province has around 100 individuals or companies as members. When added to nationwide network, the association boasts around 300 members except the 70 board members. The association estimates that there are about 450,000 seniors in our society based on which it runs customized job training and consulting programs. 

Shin herself started a business in her 30s and made a groundbreaking for computing programs by developing an ERP program for SMEs. She then served as operating manager of Onse Telecom and CEO of Sandoll Tium and made a number of appearances on KBS1 Golden Pentagon, a startup audition show. 

Alongside the president’s role, she is also serving as CEO of Apple & U, a board member of the Korea Venture Business Women’s Association and a board member of the Korea Franchise Association. 

Walking alongside
“It is a good idea to benchmark the support programs for young startups for senior startups if we are to create a synergy effect. Retirement programs must run effectively way before the retirement and it is also a good idea for companies to introduce an in-house venture department to promote the activities. The Senior Venture Association is here to provide practical help to make this happen on behalf of the government” says Shin. 

As for the year 2019, the association is pushing forward ‘3 Core Projects’ to back up the central government’s job policies for young and senior members of the society alike. For this, the association signed numerous MOUs with the Innobiz, Korea Venture Business Women’s Association, Central Association for SME Convergence, Korea Kitchen Distribution Association, Seungbukku Senior Technology Business Inauguration Center, and Senior Blogger Community of Korea. 

From February 2019, the association is starting a senior instructor’s course in an effort to secure industry specialists who will bring difference to the senior job market.