BUSAN — With low birth rates, population aging and a shrinking working-age population raising concerns about the loss of skilled workers at regional industrial sites, a policy model has been proposed that redefines retired veteran science and technology workers as core assets for regional industrial innovation rather than merely recipients of welfare and job support. The aim is to channel highly skilled people with long experience in research and development and on-site know-how into strengthening the technological capabilities of Busan's key industries and improving the quality of its R&D.
The Busan Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning (BISTEP) said on the 30th that it has published a report titled "Strategies for Utilizing Retired Veteran Science and Technology Workers," which lays out such policy measures. In the science and technology field, expertise accumulates through years of research and development and industrial experience, and a system is therefore needed to make use of it after retirement, according to BISTEP's analysis.
A notable point in the study is its argument that retired workers should be connected directly to companies' technology needs. In a survey of retired veteran science and technology workers, companies seeking such expertise and agencies managing related programs, BISTEP found strong demand among the retirees to take part in technical support, R&D, problem-solving at industrial sites, and policy and strategy advisory work. Companies were also found to view their deployment favorably as a way to overcome shortages of research staff and limits on technological innovation.
Local companies likewise welcome on-site participation by veteran science and technology workers as a way to address chronic shortages of R&D staff and the limits of their own technological innovation. Companies overwhelmingly preferred substantive and continuing on-site cooperation, such as improving processes and resolving technical bottlenecks, over one-off advice or simple consultations, the survey found.
BISTEP first proposed linking Busan's key industries with the expertise of veteran science and technology workers. Under this approach, the retirees would help set the direction and strategy for the development of the region's main industries, advise on science, technology and industrial policy, and help build cooperation networks among industry, academia and research institutes. At the company level, they could be assigned to resolve technical bottlenecks, improve processes and identify R&D projects.
The scope of their deployment would not stop at individual companies. The report also proposed applying and spreading shared industrial technologies on site so that technology and experience accumulated at one company can be used by multiple companies in the region. The intent is to extend the experience of retired science and technology workers beyond solving one company's problem into an asset that raises the technological capabilities of the region's entire industrial base.
BISTEP also stressed the need to build a Busan-specific system that effectively matches the capabilities of veteran science and technology workers with the technology needs of local companies, allowing cooperation to continue over time.
"The expertise and know-how that veteran science and technology workers have built up over many years should not disappear with retirement but be put back to use as an irreplaceable innovation resource for the regional economy," said Song Min-ho, a senior researcher at BISTEP. "We need to move quickly to build a support system tailored to Busan that finely matches the capabilities of science and technology workers with the technology needs of companies to generate lasting synergy."
