Employing Foreign Workers to Become Easier

The regulation that forces companies searching for foreign workers to choose between the Foreigners Employment Permit System and the industrial trainee system is to be removed.

In addition, the process of hiring foreign workers will be simplified, which could help solve the shortage of workers some small and medium-sized companies are facing.

On March 2, the government confirmed a plan to improve the Employment Permit System after opening a committee on foreign labor policy at the Central Government Complex at Sejongno, Geongno-gu, Seoul.

According to the plan, the government would correct immigration control ordinance issues and abolish the practice of “taking one system at the expense of the other” as early as April, or by June at the latest.

The government also decided to expand the possible number of foreign workers that small- and medium-sized companies with less than 10 workers are allowed to employ to five.

Up until now, regardless of their size, companies were allowed to hire foreign workers only up to half the number of the company’s native workers.

The obligatory period for a company owner to try to hire native workers prior to employing foreign workers has also been reduced from one month to three to seven days starting in April.

Jong-Hoon Lee taylor55@donga.com