SEOUL, September 16 (AJP) - A recent survey by the Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) reveals that more than nine out of ten small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that employ foreign nationals do so primarily due to difficulties in hiring domestic workers.
The survey, conducted in July on 503 businesses with 50 or more employees, found that 93.8 percent of respondents cited "difficulty in hiring domestic workers" as their primary reason for employing foreign workers.
This starkly contrasts with other factors, such as "labor cost reduction" at 2.6 percent, "productivity improvement" at 1.2 percent, and "securing skilled or experienced personnel" at 0.2 percent.
The demand for foreign workers is expected to remain high, with an overwhelming 98.2 percent of companies surveyed planning to either "maintain or expand" their foreign workforce. Only 1.8 percent indicated a plan to reduce it.
South Korea's Employment Permit System, or E-9 visa, allows businesses to legally employ foreign workers in sectors facing labor shortages, such as manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and fisheries.
While foreign workers are legally entitled to the same minimum wage as their domestic counterparts, their actual earnings can vary.
Data from a late 2024 survey showed that nearly half of foreign wage earners in South Korea (48.9 percent) earned between 2 million and 3 million Korean won per month.
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