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| Photo for illustration (Source: VGP) |
Launched in 2004, the EPS aims to help small and medium-sized companies solve their labour shortages. It allows employers who have failed to hire native workers to legally hire an adequate number of foreign workers. It is a system that the Korean government introduced to manage foreign workers in the RoK in an organized manner.
Vietnam was one of the first six countries to send workers to the RoK under the programme, which now covers 16 nations with Vietnam topping the list, accounting for 134,655 out of more than 1 million foreign workers in the RoK.
Speaking at a recent conference marking the 20th anniversary of the EPS, RoK Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik affirmed the success of the program, saying it should be improved to ensure safety standards in the industrial environment, with training, employment and residence support for qualified foreigners.
Mr. Lim Seung-mook said Vietnam is among the countries prioritized by Korean firms in employment and reemployment as Vietnamese workers are quick to adapt to the new situation and meet the requirements of employers.
He said the RoK would need more foreign workers because of its aging population and declining workforce.
Along with the increasing number of Vietnamese workers in the RoK, the proportion of skilled workers is also rising, he said, adding the country plans to open more sectors to foreign workers.
Lim said Vietnamese skilled labourers returning to Vietnam after their contracts expire can work for Korean firms in their homeland, whose number amounts to some 9,000.
Min Pil-hong, Director of HTM, an auto parts company in Gyeonggy province, said his firm is employing 14 foreign workers, half of them Vietnamese who are sincere, friendly and serious at work.
The EPS program has achieved many successes, contributing to solving the serious shortage of human resources of small- and medium-sized enterprises in RoK as well as bringing many opportunities and benefits to foreign workers, including Vietnamese workers.
According to the Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Vietnam sent more than 78,000 workers abroad in the first half of this year, fulfilling 62.4% of the yearly target./.