Korea Federation of SMEs Holds Tour Meetings on 'Foreign Workforce System Improvement'

Headquarters of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KSMB) announced on the 27th that it will hold the '2020 Regional Tour Meetings for the Improvement of the Foreign Workforce System.'

This meeting was organized to listen to the difficulties faced by local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that employ foreign workers. The purpose is to improve the system centered on the demand side and to enhance the convenience of using foreign labor.

Starting with the Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungnam regions on the 4th of next month, the meetings will be held in five regions: ▲ Busan and Ulsan regions (February 14) ▲ Gwangju and Jeonnam regions (February 19) ▲ Incheon region (March 6) ▲ Jeonbuk region (March 19).

Until now, in the SME field, there have been continuous opinions that it is unreasonable to apply the same probation period (3 months) to foreign workers as domestic workers, despite the lower productivity of foreign workers compared to domestic workers.

At this meeting, opinions from the SME sector will be collected regarding differentiated minimum wage application based on productivity and the extension of the probation period for foreign workers.

Lee Taehee, Head of the Smart Job Division at KSMB, said, "Last year, the voices from the SME field were greatly reflected in the improvement of the foreign workforce system, such as expanding the employment limit of foreign workers per workplace and shortening the re-entry period for diligent workers." He added, "We will continue to work closely with the government and the National Assembly to ensure that the opinions gathered from the SME production sites are reflected in government policies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.