Foreign Workforce Plan
The South Korean government decided to accept 56,000 foreign workers next year, 2,000 less than this year.
The government held the 24th Foreign Workforce Policy Committee meeting on December 22 at the government complex located in Seoul and fixed its foreign workforce management plan for 2017. The 56,000 workers are divided into 43,000 to start their jobs in South Korea next year and 13,000 to re-enter the country.
“Employment conditions have deteriorated since the second half of this year due to the reduction of domestic consumption, restructuring in the shipbuilding and shipping industries and the like,” the Ministry of Employment & Labor explained, adding, “The size for next year has been reduced to some extent in that those conditions are likely to continue next year and the restructuring will be accelerated down the road.”
The new workers are to arrive at different points in time from industry to industry in view of workforce supply situations and so on. For instance, the arrival is scheduled for January, April, July and October in the manufacturing sector, where the demand is ongoing, while it is scheduled for January in the service sector. In addition, it is scheduled for January and April in the case of agricultural and livestock industries, January, April, July and October in fisheries and January, April and July in construction.