Agreement on the Provision of Accounting Workforce for Social Enterprises
▲ LEE Back-Soon, CEO of Shinhan Bank (the 3rd from the left), LEE Young-Hee, Minister of Labor, and SONG Wol-Joo, Chairman of the Work Together Foundation taking a commemorative photograph after the agreement ceremony.
The Foundation concluded an agreement on the provision of accounting personnel for social enterprises with Shinhan Bank and the Ministry of Labor at the head office of Shinhan Bank at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, July 21st.
Minister LEE Young-Hee of the Ministry of Labor, President LEE Baek-Soon of Shinhan Bank, Chairman SONG Wol-Joo of the Work Together Foundation, and other social enterprise-related individuals participated in the agreement ceremony. Here, they announced the starting of the ‘Project on the Provision of Accounting Personnel for Social Enterprises’ and promised mutual cooperation in education and employment support.
The project is linked to the ‘job-S.O.S 4U Project’ of Shinhan Bank being executed with KRW 40 billion formed through a labor-management agreement. It was started in July to be executed over a 14 month period. It has been planned to provide financial and accounting training for the unemployed, then to link those trained to employment in preliminary social or social enterprises and to subsidize their salaries.
The reason that Shinhan Bank has been noticed is due to the fact that they are the first financial institution to pay attention to social enterprises’ lack of specialty in finance and accounting, and help foster experts of the kind and create employment.
In fact, overseas, it has been an ongoing norm from much earlier on for private companies to contribute business knowhow and skills to social enterprises, as these activities were recognized as a corporate social responsibility. The case of Shinhan Bank provides a differentiated model of social contribution for the first time in the financial sector. Furthermore, it is more meaningful because KRW 2 billion used for the project was formed through salary return from directors and staff.
It is expected that the project will strengthen managerial capability and raise accounting transparency for social enterprises and additionally, contribute to sustainable development.
Translated by CHOI Eun-Young
Edited by Tyler Hollinger