40% of SMEs Say "Foreign Workers Need to Increase"

KCCI, Survey Results on Employment Status of Foreign Workers in Small and Medium Manufacturing Enterprises

Workers are working in the Mullae Machinery and Metal District in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] A survey has revealed that the scale of foreign worker intake for next year should be further increased to alleviate the labor shortage in frontline industrial sites.

According to the results of a survey on the employment status of foreign workers in small and medium manufacturing businesses released by the Korea Employers Federation on the 16th, 40.1% of respondents said that the government’s planned scale for foreign worker intake next year should be increased. The government recently decided to raise the number of foreign workers under the Employment Permit System for 2023 to 110,000, an increase of 41,000 from this year.

In particular, a relatively higher number of respondents in sectors facing labor shortages, such as shipbuilding and automobile parts manufacturing, said that the intake scale should be expanded. Those who answered that the current scale is sufficient to resolve the labor shortage accounted for 55.0%. The survey targeted 307 manufacturing companies with fewer than 300 employees.

Among the respondents, 46.6% planned to apply for foreign workers next year, while 29.0% said they were unsure. Those with no plans to apply accounted for 24.4%. Regarding the monthly wage level for foreign workers, more than half of the respondents answered between 2.5 million and 3 million KRW per month.

The most frequently cited difficulties in employing foreign workers were low productivity and communication challenges, at 45.3%. The burden of labor costs due to minimum wage increases was mentioned by 42.7%, and complicated procedures were cited by 41.4%. The most needed policy, according to 68.7% of respondents, was the extension of the foreign workers’ stay period.

Lim Young-tae, head of the Employment Policy Team at the Korea Employers Federation, said, "Although the government has decided to introduce the largest number of 110,000 foreign workers since the implementation of the Employment Permit System, the fact that 40% of respondents believe the number should be increased shows the severity of the labor shortage in small and medium manufacturing companies. Additional measures such as further expanding the intake scale or extending the stay period of foreign workers are necessary."

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