Vietnamese workers earn plaudits from RoK employers

According to him, Vietnam is among the countries being prioritised by RoK firms in terms of employment and reemployment as Vietnamese workers are quick to adapt to the new situation and meet the requirements set by employers.

Emphasizing the important role of guest workers in small and medium-sized enterprises in the RoK, he said the East Asian nation would require more foreign workers given its aging population and declining workforce.

Along with the growing number of Vietnamese workers based in the RoK, the proportion of skilled workers is also continuing to rise, he said, adding that the Korean side already has plans to open more sectors to foreign workers.

Lim said that skilled Vietnamese labourers returning home after their contracts expire can work for RoK firms in their homeland, whose number amounts to some 9,000.

According to the HRDK, launched back in 2004, the EPS is designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises deal with 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 first introduced as part of efforts to manage foreign workers in the RoK in an organised 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 one million foreign workers in the East Asian nation.

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 scheme, saying that it should be improved as a means of ensuring safety standards in the industrial environment, with training, employment, and residence support given to qualified foreigners.

Min Pil-hong, director of HTM, an auto parts company in Gyeonggy province, said his firm is currently employing 14 foreign workers, half of whom are sincere, friendly, and hardworking Vietnamese nationals.

Vietnam sent more than 78,000 workers abroad during the first half of this year, fulfilling 62.4% of the annual target, according to the Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Japan, Taiwan (China), and the RoK all remained the largest recipients of Vietnamese guest workers.

Last year witnessed over 159,000 workers go abroad for the purpose of employment, surpassing the yearly target by 33.3%, with this figure being the highest recorded over the past decade.

For 2024, the Ministry aims to send 125,000 workers abroad, focusing on key traditional markets such as Japan, Taiwan (China), and the RoK. It already has plans to have 120,000 to 143,000 people working in foreign countries every year, who in turn will send roughly US$3.5 billion to US$4 billion home in remittances.

The Government has issued a plan to realise a directive of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat on strengthening the Party leadership on sending workers overseas in the new situation.

Along with building strategies aimed at sending Vietnamese labourers to foreign countries, the plan outlines solutions which seek to raise public awareness of law observance, as well as co-ordination mechanisms to handle relevant issues.