Korea’s foreign worker recruitment programme flawed
25 September 2014
South Korea’s state-run foreign worker recruitment programme has been found to be riddled with loopholes and subject to abuse, Korea Times reports.
Thu, 25 Sep 2015South Korea’s state-run foreign worker recruitment programme has been found to be riddled with loopholes and subject to abuse, The Korea Times reports.
The programme, run since 2000 to help small and medium-sized businesses hire workers from abroad, is being abused by large conglomerates, according to the report.
State operators have also been lax in recording the number of foreign jobseekers benefiting from the programme and ensuring the rules are adhered to, it was claimed.
Citing data from government organisations, Hong Ik-pyo, of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, said the number of beneficiaries committing crimes in relation to the programme was on the rise.
In 2012, there were 16 cases of beneficiaries who were found guilty of crimes such as document forgery. That number rose to 28 last year.
Last year, 645 foreigners found themselves a job in Korea thanks to the programme. However, 15% were employed by big companies.
Hong’s secretary told The Korea Times the programme was introduced to help SMEs, “not rich and powerful conglomerates and organisations”.
Those large organisations could “easily recruit foreign talent without state support, which means that taxpayers' money has been wasted by the programme”.
The programme, run since 2000 to help small and medium-sized businesses hire workers from abroad, is being abused by large conglomerates, according to the report.
State operators have also been lax in recording the number of foreign jobseekers benefiting from the programme and ensuring the rules are adhered to, it was claimed.
Citing data from government organisations, Hong Ik-pyo, of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, said the number of beneficiaries committing crimes in relation to the programme was on the rise.
In 2012, there were 16 cases of beneficiaries who were found guilty of crimes such as document forgery. That number rose to 28 last year.
Last year, 645 foreigners found themselves a job in Korea thanks to the programme. However, 15% were employed by big companies.
Hong’s secretary told The Korea Times the programme was introduced to help SMEs, “not rich and powerful conglomerates and organisations”.
Those large organisations could “easily recruit foreign talent without state support, which means that taxpayers' money has been wasted by the programme”.
