Discussion on Expanding the Use of Foreign Students in Korea... Tackling Workforce Shortage in SMEs

'Meeting on Expanding the Use of Foreign International Students'
Korea Polytechnic University, Chungbuk Health Science University Industry-Academia Linked Education

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has begun discussions on utilizing foreign students studying in Korea to alleviate the manpower shortage in manufacturing SMEs.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 18th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it held a "Meeting on Expanding the Utilization of Foreign Students in Manufacturing SMEs" at Korea Polytechnic University in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.

Due to young people's reluctance to work in SMEs, the manpower shortage in SMEs is becoming increasingly severe. According to the SME manpower shortage rate announced this year by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the overall SME shortage rate is 2.8%, while manufacturing SMEs have a shortage rate of 3.3%.

The number of foreign students studying in Korea continues to increase, reaching approximately 170,000. Among them, 35.4% hope to find employment in domestic companies. However, due to mismatches in job information between companies and students, difficulties in visa issuance, and other factors, the actual employment rate does not exceed 10%.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is preparing a "Plan to Utilize Foreign Students in Manufacturing SMEs" to leverage domestic foreign students with excellent Korean language skills as a solution to the manpower shortage in manufacturing SMEs.

During the meeting, focused discussions were held on topics such as "building a foreign job matching platform to resolve information asymmetry between companies and foreign students, expanding online and offline job fairs, and establishing regional student recruitment matching centers," "customized talent training and supply plans tailored to company demands," and "advancing the utilization infrastructure for domestic foreign students (including visa issuance and employment support)."

Manufacturing SMEs expressed various on-site concerns such as lack of information about hiring foreign students and emphasized the need for sustainable measures that allow domestic foreign students to actively contribute to resolving the manpower shortage in manufacturing SMEs. University officials argued that sufficient information about manufacturing SMEs and systematic pre-education to nurture the talent desired by SMEs are necessary.

The companies participating in the meeting, along with Korea Polytechnic University and Chungbuk Health Science College, signed a business agreement to expand the utilization of foreign students in SMEs. They plan to collaborate to nurture field-customized talent through expanded industry-academia linked education and attract excellent foreign students to SMEs.

Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "It is time for multifaceted efforts to resolve the chronic manpower shortage faced by many manufacturing SMEs," and added, "We will carefully prepare the plan to utilize domestic foreign students so that it can contribute to alleviating the manpower shortage in manufacturing SMEs."

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