Goheung-gun's 'Public Seasonal Worker Program' Receives Positive Response from Farmers

Published 14 Aug.2023 11:50(KST)

Contributing to Alleviating Labor Shortages by Appropriately Deploying Foreign Workers

Gohung-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gong Young-min) announced that the ongoing public seasonal labor project is effectively responding to the demand for rural labor during the busy farming season, receiving great support from farmers.

This project was selected at 19 locations nationwide this year, and in Jeollanam-do, it is the only one selected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs public contest, with Gohung Pungyang Nonghyup and Naju Bae Horticultural Nonghyup leading the project, making it the first of its kind in Jeollanam-do.

[Photo by Goheung-gun]

The public seasonal labor project is a government policy where employers and foreign workers sign employment contracts, provide transportation and lodging, and dispatch workers to farms in need of labor on a minimum daily basis. In Gohung-gun, 20 Filipino seasonal workers arrived at the end of April and have been assisting 471 farms since May, greatly supporting rural areas struggling with labor shortages.

The existing foreign seasonal labor system did not allow farms needing short-term labor to participate and posed employment burdens. However, the newly introduced public seasonal labor project complements these shortcomings, proving useful for small-scale farms during the busy farming season. It operates with affordable wages, reducing labor cost burdens, which has earned strong support from farmers.

A county official stated, “Along with the four currently operating Rural Labor Brokerage Centers, we have additionally promoted the public seasonal labor project to ensure smooth supply and demand of labor during the busy farming season. The Pungyang Nonghyup, which is implementing the project, will receive additional budget support necessary for operation so that it can focus solely on supplying rural labor. Next year, we will expand the public seasonal labor project to more Nonghyups to ensure sufficient labor support.”