Paying 3.6 million VND/day, Korean farm still lacks workers

"We still need a huge workforce. The income paid to each foreign worker has increased from 140,000 Won (approximately 2.5 million VND) before Covid-19 to 200,000 Won/day (3.5 million VND)," a potato farmer in Pyeongchang County, Gangwon Province (South Korea) told The Korea Economic Daily.

According to an onion farmer in Hampyeong County, South Jeolla Province, the workload at the farm has tripled. This is because now, on average, three workers have to handle the work of ten people.

Foreign workers are seen working in a lettuce field in Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang Province. These workers make up a large portion of the agricultural workforce in South Korea (Photo: The Korea Times).

"The new workforce from Thailand and Vietnam has significantly lower productivity. Therefore, they cannot handle all the work during peak season," this person said.

Reportedly, South Korean agricultural product prices are expected to rise due to a chronic labor shortage in the agricultural sector. Despite government efforts to expand the temporary foreign workforce, the industry is experiencing a serious imbalance between labor supply and demand.

Specifically, the South Korean government has assigned 12,330 seasonal workers, or foreign workers, to work temporarily during busy seasons. These workers were provided to 114 local governments nationwide in the first half of 2022. The government will assign 7,388 seasonal workers in the second half of the year.

The South Korean government allows immigration under the following categories: marriage-based immigrants; Korean nationals with foreign citizenship; short-term foreign workers; and foreigners supported by seasonal labor cooperation programs between their home countries and South Korea.

According to The Korea Times, authorities in Eumseong-gun town have launched a recruitment campaign for city farmers. This measure comes as local governments in central South Korea express concerns about a potential labor shortage.

Specifically, the locality needs at least 156 healthy men or women aged between 20 and 75. Officials have visited local universities and community centers to recruit students and residents.

They increased subsidies by paying workers 60,000 Won (approximately 1 million VND) for every 4 hours of work. The government is willing to subsidize 40% of the wages for the farms.

An onion farm in Goryeong town, North Gyeongsang province (Photo: The Korea Economic Daily).

As of February 9th, the town had recruited an additional 170 people. The government also invested over 210 million Won (approximately 2.1 billion VND) in this campaign to support farm wages and other worker expenses. These costs include daily public transportation fares, accident insurance fees, and training fees.

Lee Seong-don, an agricultural instructor from the agricultural technology center, said: "Due to the unstable labor supply and lack of automation, garlic farmers in Jeju are unable to expand their farms further to the extent they would like."

The government has invested over 210 million won in this campaign to help pay farm wages and other worker expenses, including daily public transportation fares, accident insurance fees, and training fees.

According to Seok Sung-kyun, Director of the Environmentally Friendly Agriculture Bureau of the Gangwon Provincial Government, the prefecture has received government approval to hire the highest number of seasonal workers from abroad this year.

Of those, this eastern mountainous province has allocated 6,425 migrant workers.

"The record number of foreign workers this year will help us overcome the labor shortage problem, especially at farms that are entering their peak season," the head added.

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