"South Korea Needs Additional 43,000 Korean Workers by 2027"

Research Service on Workforce Support Measures for Joseon Marine Industry

LNG-powered large container ship by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries. Photo by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] A survey has revealed that an additional 43,000 workers need to be deployed over the next five years to maintain competitiveness in the shipbuilding industry.

The Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Plant Association (hereinafter ‘Shipbuilding Association’) announced on the 23rd that it recently completed the 'Research on Workforce Support Measures for the Shipbuilding and Offshore Industry,' which began last year with support from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

According to the research results, considering domestic shipbuilding volume over the next five years, the workforce required in the shipbuilding and offshore industry in 2027 is estimated to be 135,000, which is 43,000 more than last year.

Specifically, research and design personnel are expected to increase by 4,000 to 14,000, production personnel by 37,000 to 107,000, and other personnel (office and specialized contract workers) by 2,000 to 14,000 during the same period.

Domestic Workforce Trends in Medium to Large Shipyards. Others include shipyard and in-house partner company employees, management support staff, and contract workers. Table provided by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Plant Association.

Accordingly, the report proposed three major strategies for workforce supply and demand in the shipbuilding industry: ▲expanding customized workforce training to respond to future new markets ▲creating a stable environment for workforce inflow ▲establishing a foundation for an advanced workforce supply and demand ecosystem.

The 11 implementation tasks include ▲providing compensation support to prevent workforce attrition ▲expanding workforce training channels through metropolitan-regional linkage and field-customized training projects ▲fostering cooperative workforce training linking large and small-to-medium enterprises ▲enhancing the brand value of the shipbuilding industry based on ICT ▲strengthening safe and environmentally friendly working conditions ▲expanding the utilization of foreign workers ▲building an integrated workforce matching platform, among others. The plan also includes creating a foundation for training advanced AI convergence personnel by utilizing corporate investment spaces to establish an ecosystem that supplies excellent talent in the smart ship sector to shipbuilding-dense areas.

The Shipbuilding Association is planning the ‘(tentative name) Shipbuilding and Offshore Future Innovation Talent Training Hub Project’ to cultivate high-level technical personnel while actively promoting the introduction of foreign production workers to urgently secure production personnel in consultation with the government.

Although the domestic shipbuilding industry maintains its world No. 1 status, it has recently faced difficulties due to a deepening labor shortage. According to data from the Shipbuilding Association, the number of shipbuilding workers peaked at 203,441 in 2014 but has steadily declined to 92,394 as of July this year, a 54.5% decrease over eight years. In particular, research and design personnel and production personnel, which determine the competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry, decreased by 6,645 (-46.9%) and 98,003 (-58.3%) respectively during the same period.

Trends in Global Orders and Domestic Contract Performance. Figures in parentheses indicate year-on-year growth rates. Source: Clarkson

Choi Gyu-jong, Vice Chairman of the Shipbuilding Association, said, “We welcome the government’s efforts to address the workforce shortage as announced in the ‘Shipbuilding Industry Super-gap Securing Strategy’ on the 19th and ask for continued attention. Recognizing that a shortage of technical personnel leads to long-term weakening of industrial competitiveness, the industry is proactively investing in education facilities and technical personnel, and we hope the government will continue to support these efforts.”

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