Korea slashes job quotas

SEOUL, April 24: Plagued by ongoing global financial meltdown, South Korea has drastically cut the number of foreign workers to be employed under Employment Permit System (EPS) for this year. Nepali embassy officials said Korea´s move is all set to affect Nepali workers who have been already waiting for Korean jobs since last year. More than 6,500 Nepali youths had been included in job-roster after they passed the Korean language test, mandatory for Korean jobs. [break]



Following the decision to slash job quotas for foreigners, only 17,000 foreign job-seekers from 15 countries will get job opportunities in Korea during 2009. A total of 72,000 foreign workers were employed under the EPS-the employment policy enforced by the Korean government to allow local employers to recruit foreign workers for fulfilling labor crunch.



Human Resource Department of Korea´s Labor Ministry states that of the total job quotas fixed for this year, 13,000 will be allocated for manufacturing sector whereas remaining 4,000 workers will get opportunities in construction, agriculture, fishery and service sectors.



Kamal Koirala, Nepalese ambassador to Korea, said Nepali workers will get opportunity in manufacturing and service sectors only. Koirala expects that about 900 Nepali will get jobs opportunities in Korea in this year. Last year, Korea had provided 5,500 quotas for Nepal. Source said the job aspirants who passed Korean language test last year will get priority for Korean jobs. “However, there will not be job guarantee for all of them,” the source said.

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