9 out of 10 Companies Say "More Than 110,000 Foreign Workers Needed Next Year"

Survey on Foreign Workforce Status and Improvement Measures
Problems Even When Hiring... Work Stoppage if Refusal to Terminate Employment
Submission of Petition to Government for Restrictions on Workplace Changes

Nine out of ten domestic companies employing foreigners believe they need to hire the same number or more foreign workers next year compared to this year.

According to a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) last month targeting 502 companies employing foreign workers, 90% of the companies stated on the 17th that they should maintain (43.2%) or expand (46.8%) the number of foreign workers next year, which is 110,000 this year. Only 9.2% responded that the number should be reduced.

The scale of foreign workforce introduction is decided annually by the Foreign Workforce Policy Committee under the Prime Minister's Office. The committee also deliberates and approves the basic plans related to foreign workers, such as the number of employment permits per workplace, permitted industries for employment, and countries of workforce dispatch. To replenish the foreign workers reduced due to COVID-19, the government set the introduction scale of non-professional foreign workers (E-9 visa) at a record high of 110,000 this year.

More than half of the responding companies, 57.2%, answered that the number of non-professional foreign workers (E-9) employed was insufficient. The reasons for the shortage were 'additional vacancies due to domestic workers' turnover' (41.5%), 'unable to hire more due to legal limits on permitted employment numbers' (20.2%), 'reasons such as foreign workers leaving the workplace' (17.8%), and 'difficulty in hiring foreign workers suitable for the job' (16.4%). The average additional foreign workers needed by companies was 6.1. The average number of foreign workers employed by responding companies was 9.8, which is 12.7% compared to domestic workers (76.8).

The biggest difficulty companies face is the demand from foreign workers to terminate their labor contracts. When asked if they had experienced foreign workers requesting contract termination to change workplaces, 52.4% of companies answered 'yes.' If companies refuse such contract termination requests, foreign workers reportedly engage in 'work slowdowns' (41.1%), 'unauthorized absences' (14.8%), 'unauthorized departures' (8.7%), and 'collective actions' (4.2%). Only 11.4% of cases resulted in amicable agreements and normal work resumption. The KCCI explained, "Under the current system, foreign workers' workplace changes are only allowed in limited cases where the employer terminates the labor contract or when continued work is difficult due to the employer's illegal or unfair acts," adding, "However, in practice, there are many cases of abuse."

The most desired improvement in the foreign workforce system by companies was easing the re-entry period for foreign workers (53.0%). This was followed by 'expansion of permitted employment numbers per workplace' (43.2%), 'strengthening workplace change requirements' (36.6%), 'expansion of foreign workforce introduction scale' (33.5%), 'strengthening Korean language and cultural education' (29.1%), and 'providing vocational training to improve productivity' (26.5%).

The KCCI compiled these field voices along with this survey and submitted a 'Proposal for Improvement of Foreign Worker Employment and Utilization System' to the government. The proposal included matters related to non-professional foreign workers (E-9 visa) such as ▲expansion of introduction scale and permitted employment numbers ▲extension of stay periods ▲limitation on the number of workplace changes ▲addition of permitted employment industries (parcel sorting, plant construction) ▲expansion of foreign worker stay support ▲and reform of the foreign workforce allocation point system.

There were also proposals related to skilled foreign workers (E-7 visa). Companies stated, "The low skills and qualifications of welders and painters introduced in the shipbuilding industry, which is experiencing a severe labor shortage, are problematic," and requested, "A qualification and skill verification system should be established locally, and skilled foreign workers should be allowed in the aviation manufacturing industry, which is also facing labor shortages due to recent increases in overseas orders." Other proposals included linking foreign students to regional company employment, introducing participants in official development assistance (ODA) vocational training projects, and reinforcing and expanding immigration office personnel.

Yoo Il-ho, head of the Employment and Labor Policy Team at KCCI, said, "Foreign workers play an important role not only in industrial sites but also in solving chronic labor shortages in rural and fishing villages, and due to population decline and urban population concentration, dependence on them is increasing and their numbers are inevitably growing." He added, "Now, it is necessary to move beyond simply replacing domestic workers and introduce various levels of foreign workers, establishing policy directions so that they can settle as members of local communities."

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