On December 12, within the framework of his working trip to Korea, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan had many meetings and worked with agencies of the neighboring country related to activities promoting cooperation in human resources and labor.
Increase labor quota
Meeting with Deputy Minister of Labor and Employment of the Republic of Korea Lee Sung Hee, Deputy Minister Nguyen Ba Hoan affirmed that cooperation activities between the Vietnamese and Korean Ministries of Labor have had many impressive developments in recent times, demonstrating the special strategic partnership between the two countries announced in 2022.
The Deputy Minister announced that in recent days, he and his delegation have completed many contents of the working program in Korea, including signing an administrative agreement with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, a memorandum of understanding on recruiting technical workers in the shipbuilding industry with the Hyundai Mipo Group, and signing a service agreement with the Human Resources Development Service (HRD) of Korea.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Ba Hoan met with Deputy Minister of Labor and Employment of Korea Lee Sung Hee (Photo: Thai Anh).
The meetings showed that Vietnamese workers meet job requirements well, helping to make up for the shortage of human resources serving Korea's economic development activities.
Fortunately, from that trust and preference, the labor quota allocated to Vietnam has increased over the years. Last year, the announced level was nearly 6,500 people, in 2023, the "quota" (quota) increased to 9,500 people. Also this year, nearly 700 technical workers, under E7 visa, joined the leading Korean shipbuilding group, bringing Vietnamese workers to the top of the total number of foreign workers working at Huyndai Mipo.
Vietnamese workers also have a great desire and need to go to Korea to study, work and improve their skills, and earn income so that when they return, they can continue to serve their homeland and country. Therefore, workers are very proactive in learning Korean as well as improving their professional skills in preparation for departure.
According to statistics, over 60% of people who take the foreign language and vocational exams pass. However, the number of workers selected and licensed is still limited, so even though they pass the exam, many people still cannot apply to go to Korea.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Ba Hoan suggested that the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor consider the issue, increase the labor quota in 2024 as well as have a policy of reserving exam results so that workers can wait for more opportunities to leave the country and participate in the labor market in Korea.
Cooperation between the Vietnamese and Korean Ministries of Labor has seen many impressive developments in recent times (Photo: Thai Anh).
He also suggested recruitment directions for technical workers to supply Korean-origin industries such as shipbuilding, mining, etc., like the model implemented in Hyundai Mipo to improve the quality and value of human resources for both countries. There is no reason why more than 10,000 E9 workers (visa for unskilled workers) are licensed each year while the number of F7 workers is only modest, less than 700 people.
Agreeing with the contents stated by the Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Employment and Labor of Korea Lee Sung Hee determined that the EPS program is the focus in labor and human resources cooperation between Vietnam and Korea.
To date, Vietnam has sent 146,000 workers to Korea. With this result, Vietnam has become the leading country among 16 countries participating in the EPS program, having to send workers to this East Asian country. Currently, there are 36,000 Vietnamese working in Korea, according to Deputy Minister Lee Sung Hee, a force that contributes significantly to the economic development of his country.
The leader of the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor also confirmed that Vietnamese workers have good qualities, are diligent, hard-working, and agile, which employers really like. The Deputy Minister cited the fact that Vietnamese workers have excelled in the recent foreign workers' skills competition, proving that.
He said that with the expansion of foreign labor recruitment from 120,000 people this year to 165,000 people next year, along with the maintenance of a trustworthy cooperative relationship between the two countries, the number of workers employed by both sides will continue to increase.
Removing visa problems for Vietnamese workers
Also on December 12, working with the leaders of the Korea Shipbuilding and Marine Association (Koshipa), Deputy Minister Nguyen Ba Hoan continued to pursue the issue of labor quotas with Vietnam.
"This year, Vietnam has about 11,000 workers going to Korea under the EPS program, seasonal agricultural workers have exceeded this number, and the number of workers on nearshore fishing vessels has also reached a high level. However, the number of technical workers under the E7 visa is less than 700 people. This is a concern for me during this working trip to Korea," the Deputy Minister of Labor of Vietnam wondered.
At an online meeting in April, the Korean Deputy Minister of Industry, Trade and Energy outlined a plan to attract 11,000 workers under this category, but by now the year is almost over, so the target will certainly not be achieved.
As an agency that assesses and grants vocational certification to foreign workers, Koshipa has recruited a group of E9 workers with a fairly abundant source and good dispatched labor capacity, but unfortunately, the number of successful candidates has only stopped at 2,200 people, accounting for less than 30% of the number of people qualified to go to Korea to work.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Ba Hoan works with leaders of the Korea Shipbuilding and Marine Association (Koshipa) (Photo: Thai Anh).
Meanwhile, working with the Huyndai Mipo Group, Deputy Minister Hoan emphasized that the company is clearly lacking and hopes to have more Vietnamese workers to join the team. In fact, the number of nearly 700 Vietnamese workers on E7 visas to Korea this year only accounts for a small percentage of the number of workers granted visas.
In response, Vice President of Koshipa Choi Kyu Chong confirmed that Korea is facing a labor shortage in many manufacturing industries as the country's natural population growth rate is falling to the lowest level in the world, only 0.7%. This is a major challenge that Korea even had to establish a Settlement Agency to jointly solve the problem of population decline.
From there, he commented that in the future, the number of workers with E9 or E7 visas will also increase rapidly.
Regarding the E7 technical worker group, although Koshipa has only participated in the selection since last year, the personnel selected for the shipbuilding industry, according to Mr. Choi Kyu Chong, have contributed to the very good development of this industry in Korea last year.
"Member businesses of the association all commented that Vietnamese workers are not only hard-working, but perhaps because of the starting point of cultural and ideological similarities, the ability to integrate and contribute of the staff is also very good.
As of the end of November, out of a total of 8,200 candidates proposed and sent to the authorities, there were 1,900 Vietnamese people, accounting for 35%. Initially, the recruitment of E7 workers encountered some difficulties in procedures and processes, but thanks to the coordination with agencies and units of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam, this has been carried out more smoothly," said Vice President Koshipa.
He also pledged to the leaders of the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to contribute his voice to propose speeding up the visa issuance process for workers who have passed the foreign language and vocational skills tests.
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