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As the number of foreign workers in Korea continues to grow, recruitment platforms are launching specialized services tailored to foreign hiring.
According to Statistics Korea, as of May 2023, the number of foreign workers in the country reached a record high of 923,000, an increase of 80,000 compared to the previous year. This is the highest figure since statistics on foreign workers were first collected in 2012. The total number of foreign residents in South Korea also hit a record high of 1.43 million. Statistics Korea attributes these increases to the post-pandemic rise in non-professional employment (E-9 visa holders) and international students.
With the rise in foreign residents and workers, businesses struggling with high domestic wages and labor shortages are increasingly turning to foreign job seekers. The government is also expanding quotas for foreign hires to address workforce shortages across various industries. The Ministry of Employment and Labor increased the number of non-professional work visas from 120,000 last year to 165,000 this year.
Foreign hiring is becoming active not only in blue-collar jobs such as service and production but also in white-collar sectors. In the IT industry, the demand for developers surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing wages to skyrocket, leading small and medium-sized companies to seek developers from lower-income countries. These developers offer competitive skills at lower wages, and the nature of development work allows for remote employment, easing the burden of hiring. Services like Supercoder, which connects foreign developers with Korean companies, have emerged to meet this demand.
Existing recruitment platforms are also responding to these changes by gradually launching specialized services targeting the foreign recruitment market, leading to increased competition in the industry.
Wanted Lab was the first to introduce a foreign recruitment service, launching the beta version of “Wanted Global” in May. This service targets foreigners seeking jobs in digital roles such as business, development, design, and marketing. The platform enhances convenience by allowing users to easily search job postings based on industry, role, position, remote work options, and employment type. Job postings also specify the required level of Korean language proficiency, divided into three categories: essential, not required, or preferred if available.
JobKorea followed suit, officially launching its foreign recruitment service KLiK on July 8. Leveraging the expertise it gained from foreign hiring through JobKorea and Albamon, KLiK provides a service tailored specifically for foreign job seekers and employers. KLiK’s standout feature is its multi-language translation function, offering support in 28 languages, including Korean, English, and Chinese, to minimize language barriers.
KLiK also allows employers to set detailed recruitment criteria such as preferred work location, language skills, and visa type, enabling job seekers to efficiently browse and find relevant job postings. Companies can specify the types of visas they are looking for, as well as language proficiency requirements in Korean and foreign languages, based on the job role.
Meanwhile, Saramin has partnered with a startup to provide visa services for companies hiring foreign workers. Saramin and the visa service startup K-Visa have signed a business agreement to expand the foreign hiring market. K-Visa offers customized visa services for foreigners residing in South Korea.
Jeju Weekly editor@jejuweekly.net
