Employment Permit System Causes Labor Shortage

Small and medium-sized firms suffered considerable damage from the employment permit system

Currently, the government is trying to resolve the manpower shortage

[ 해외 특파원 1기 / 박소민 ] Since the diffusion of COVID-19, a variety of small and medium-sized firms have been suffering from severe labor shortages. As immigration was restricted due to the spread of the pandemic, the number of foreign workers have decreased drastically. Albeit the fact that current domestic immigration regulations have been relatively relaxed, it seems as if it is difficult to recover the number of workers post-COVID. Approximately 21,600 firms applied to the Ministry of Employment and Labor for the need for small and medium-sized enterprises this year.

Accordingly, a system that restricts the recruitment of foreign workers has been pointed out. The employment permit system which was introduced in 2003 is a representative example. The employment permit system is a system designed to legally allow employees to hire foreign workers in line with the reality that foreign workers apply. This system was enacted to ensure that foreign workers receive the same legal authority as Korean workers from the government and protect the human rights of foreign workers in South Korea.

Nevertheless, some have criticized the system that foreign workers deprive Korean workers of employment opportunities, especially in fields of low-class jobs. As a result, issues are arising as the government maintains the number of foreign workers introduced at 40,000 per year. In a situation where Koreans avoid working for small and medium-sized enterprises with low wages, the number of foreign workers is limited, threatening the livelihood of small and medium-sized companies. 

Unfortunately, small and medium-sized enterprises are not the only ones affected by the employment permit system. In fields that require large-scale manpower such as fisheries and agricultural and livestock industries, the number of people limited by an employment permit system is insufficient. Therefore, they argued that the employment permit system should be revised to suit the specificity of each field.

In response to this criticism, the government expanded the number of people allowed to hire farmers and fishermen in consideration of the labor shortage in rural areas and made it possible to secure manpower by regularizing the temporary seasonal labor system temporarily operated due to COVID-19. In addition, the government has decided to expand the introduction nation and abolish the number of introducing foreigners set at 100 a day and 600 a week in the employment permit system.