Foreign Workers Decrease Compared to Pre-COVID... 60% of Export Companies Report "Labor Shortage"

Martial Arts Report... 56.8% of Industry "Struggling with Workforce Supply"
"Need to Simplify Workforce Introduction and Increase Immigration"

The number of foreign workers in the trade industry has decreased compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. It was found that 6 out of 10 companies complained about a shortage of personnel.

On the 17th, the Korea International Trade Association published a report titled "Current Status and Implications of Utilizing Foreign Workers in the Trade Field," containing these details. The report was prepared after conducting surveys of 699 companies twice, in December last year and April this year.

A foreigner handling employment permit tasks at a Seoul Employment Center. [Image source=Yonhap News]

56.8% of the responding trade companies said they are currently experiencing difficulties in securing manpower. Companies located outside the metropolitan area had a higher response rate of 60.1%, above the average.

Last year, the number of foreign workers was about 200,000, which is less than the 220,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, due to the expansion of the quota for unskilled foreign workers (E-9), there was an increase last year for the first time in three years. The annual E-9 quota numbers were 56,000 in 2020, 52,000 in 2021, 69,000 last year, and 110,000 so far this year.

Among 62 companies that answered they employ foreign workers, the average number of workers deployed was 7.4. It was found that to meet on-site demand, the current number needs to be increased by about 1.6 times.

The industry pointed out difficulties experienced when employing foreign workers (multiple responses allowed), such as frequent workplace changes (43.3%) and lack of related employment information (42.7%). Short permitted stay periods (32.7%), restrictions on the number of workers allowed per workplace (28.7%), and limits on new entry quotas (26.7%) were also cited as problems. In particular, workers under special re-entry provisions are difficult to motivate and receive lower incentives, leading many to move to workplaces that pay higher wages.

All responding companies employing foreign workers agreed that policies need improvement. This was based on a survey of five items rated on a 5-point scale (5 points for 'strongly agree' and 1 point for 'strongly disagree'). Simplification and acceleration of the foreign worker introduction process (4.13 points) was identified as the most urgent issue. Support for a system selecting foreign workers who meet employers' desired qualifications (4.09 points) and selecting foreigners with excellent Korean language skills (3.96 points) were also deemed necessary.

49.3% of small and medium-sized enterprises cited extension of workers' stay periods or easing of re-entry restrictions as the most needed policy. 58.1% of responding companies answered that an extension of the stay period by more than three years is necessary compared to now. Only 18.9% said the current stay period is appropriate. Opinions were also expressed that expanding the number of workers allowed per workplace (42.7%) and providing employment information (36.7%) are needed.

Jang Manki, Vice Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, said, "Due to low birth rates, the working population is decreasing, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign labor supply was disrupted, worsening the manpower shortage in the trade field. In the short term, improving the Employment Permit System and utilizing idle labor to resolve recruitment difficulties is necessary, while in the long term, increasing immigration and raising the domestic birth rate are the only solutions."

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