Expanding public payrolls lock Korea into permanent costs during AI shifts
In an economy being reshaped by algorithms and automation, the most expensive wager a government can make is on permanence. Yet that is precisely what South Korea is doing in 2026.
As generative AI accelerates downsizing and flattens hierarchies in the private sector, the Lee Jae Myung administration is charting a contrary course, expanding public payrolls to a six-year high. At a time when technology is teaching organizations how to do more with fewer people, the Korean government is choosing to do more with many more.
The state’s reasoning
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