Guide to Recruiting Foreign Workers for Human Resources

This time, we will learn about the basics of hiring foreigners for human resources work.

□ Necessity of hiring foreigners

As of June 2024, the number of foreigners residing in Korea, including immigrants, international students, and foreign workers, has exceeded 2.6 million. This is more than 5% of the total population, which is the OECD's standard for a "multi-ethnic and multicultural country," and Korea has now entered a multicultural society.

In August 2024, there will be 2,567,000 NEETs who are neither full-time housewives nor students but are taking time off for no reason, and of these, the population of NEETs in their 20s and 30s will be 747,000, which is the highest number since the foreign exchange crisis and higher than the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, according to Saramin, a job search platform, 9 out of 10 domestic companies are feeling the desperate need to recruit workers, and a recent survey by the Korea Employment Information Service also showed that the youth recruitment difficulty felt by small and medium-sized businesses has worsened compared to two years ago. By industry, the manufacturing industry is showing the greatest difficulties, and by company size, small businesses with 10 to 19 regular employees are showing the greatest difficulties.

On the other hand, among the permanent subscribers to employment insurance in the manufacturing industry in August 2024, the number of foreigners increased by 41,000 compared to August of last year, while the number of domestic subscribers decreased by 3,000. This means that hiring foreign workers has now become essential for corporate survival.

□ Visa related to hiring foreigners

In order to hire foreign workers, a visa change is required along with an employment contract. The visas related to hiring foreign workers are as follows:

○ E-7-1, E-7-2, E-7-3, E-7-4: Professional Employment Visa

○ E-9: Non-professional employment visa

○ F-2: Resident Visa (including F-2-R)

○ F-4: Overseas Korean Visa

○ F-5: Permanent Resident Visa

○ F-6: Spouse Visa

Among these, F-4, F-5, and F-6 visas allow hiring of foreign workers without a separate visa change, and the E-9 visa is a visa issued by the Ministry of Employment and Labor's employment permit system, so if you apply to the Employment and Labor Center, foreigners do not need to change their visas. However, the E-7 visa and F-2-R visa require a visa change after hiring.

 □ Changes to foreigner employment visas and precautions

To obtain an E-7 visa or F-2-R visa, you must select a foreign worker, write up an employment contract, and then prepare the documents required for visa change. Then, visit the immigration office with the foreign worker and apply for visa change.

However, there are a few things to keep in mind when changing visas. First of all, check the conditions of the hiring company and the cost of changing visas. Since hiring visas such as E-7 visas and F-2-R visas have strict conditions for hiring companies, you need to check these first, contact Winwin Jobs or an administrative scrivener, check the qualifications in advance, prepare the documents, and check the cost of visa issuance.

Second, you must definitely check the background of the foreign worker. When changing E-7 or F-2-R visas, the immigration office carefully examines the foreign worker's degree, major, and job-relatedness, etc., and there are cases where it is not permitted, which often happens. Therefore, it is advantageous to check these points in advance and receive consulting before applying for a visa change.

The third is the current visa held by the foreigner. If the foreigner is currently a student, it is possible to change to a work visa after graduation, so please check this. In addition, there are conditions for conversion depending on the visa, so you must check the current visa and check whether it can be converted to a work visa.

Lastly, there are the visa change period and the prohibition of prior work before the change. In principle, work is possible after the visa is issued, so the employment contract should be written considering the visa issuance period, and the job should be assigned considering this. Usually, there is a visa change period of about 2 to 4 weeks, so you should inquire about this in advance with the administrative scrivener or immigration office, and proceed with hiring considering this.