Jindo-gun Signs Seasonal Worker Introduction Agreement with Santa Rita, Philippines

Efforts to Alleviate Labor Shortages in Rural Areas and Prevent Excessive Wage Increases

Jindo County, Jeollanam-do (Governor Kim Hee-soo) signed a business agreement on the 21st with Santa Rita County in the Philippines to introduce foreign seasonal workers to solve labor shortages in farming and fishing villages.

According to the county on the 22nd, a team for the seasonal worker introduction agreement was formed and dispatched to Santa Rita County in the Philippines, where they conducted an on-site inspection and signed the seasonal worker introduction agreement.

Jindo County signed a business agreement to introduce seasonal workers with Santa Rita County in the Philippines.
[Photo by Jindo County]

Through this agreement, Santa Rita County in the Philippines plans to assign seasonal workers selected according to Jindo County’s selection criteria to aquaculture farms such as laver, abalone, and seaweed next month, after thorough consultations on △pre-education △working conditions △measures to prevent unauthorized absences.

Santa Rita County is located in Pampanga Province, Philippines, with a population of about 48,000 and is a region where inland aquaculture is well developed. County officials carefully inspected the inland aquaculture sites and personally interviewed the seasonal workers.

The foreign seasonal worker system is a program that allows workers to stay for up to eight months after entering the country, following guidelines from the Ministry of Justice, to address labor shortages and rising labor costs caused by population decline and aging. Jindo County has been operating this system since last year.

This year, the county has been allocated a total of 348 foreign seasonal workers: 248 in agriculture and 100 in fisheries. This represents an increase of more than 25% compared to the first half of the year.

A representative from Jindo County’s Population Policy Office said, “We hope that the seasonal workers receive sufficient pre-education locally and come to work diligently, greatly helping Jindo County’s fishing households. We will do our best to enable more seasonal workers to be employed through multifaceted exchanges in economy and culture with Santa Rita County in the Philippines.”

Meanwhile, Jindo County is supporting the reduction of burdens on farms and fisheries employing foreign seasonal workers and improving workers’ living conditions through the foreign seasonal worker accommodation support project, a campaign promise of Governor Kim Hee-soo in the 8th local government administration, and is providing various supports to help seasonal workers settle in Jindo County.

Additionally, to ensure stable labor supply, the county signed MOUs last year with Rizal City, Philippines, and earlier this year with San Mateo City, Philippines.

Jindo = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Seung-geun just8440@asiae.co.kr

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