Migrant worker hotspot South Korea has opened another employment sector for Nepali jobseekers under the Employment Permit System (EPS). Officials say the East Asian country will hire Nepalis to work in shipbuilding too. Currently, they are engaged in the manufacturing and farm sectors only.
In a statement, Ushpa Raj Katuwal, director of the EPS Korea Section under the Department of Foreign Employment, said that the Human Resource Department of Korea had asked Nepali authorities to select as many as 3,000 individuals in the roster this year for the shipbuilding sector.
“Of the total, as many as 1,210 will be selected from those who have passed the language test for the manufacturing sector, and the rest will be selected through examinations later in the year,” said Katuwal.
The section had recently asked individuals in the roster for manufacturing jobs to switch to shipbuilding. The deadline for applications has been extended as there were only 742 takers so far. Candidates who clear both the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) and the skill test are included in the roster.
While both men and women are eligible for shipbuilding work, Katuwal said Korean employers might prefer hiring men like in the manufacturing sector. They will be given welding-related work.
South Korea, one of the leaders in the global shipbuilding market, is seeing a severe labour shortage due to a surge of orders, Business Korea reported earlier this month. According to the report, it is expected to suffer an estimated shortage of 14,000 workers by the end of 2023.
Successful candidates will receive two months’ training with a salary before being put to work in the shipyards, according to Katuwal.
“The actual salary and benefits in the shipbuilding sector will be revealed once we get the contract for workers, but they might be slightly higher than in the other two sectors,” said Katuwal.
Korean employers will start selecting their workers in June this year. Around 80,000 Nepalis have worked in Korea under the EPS from 2008 to mid-November 2022, according to government data.
Though demand and competition for South Korean jobs have increased, concerns regarding the cost aspiring workers must bear has often been neglected. Recruitment is done under the government-to-government modality, and workers must pay all recruitment-related expenses.
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