More than half of small and medium-sized enterprises in South Korea want to hire software developers from overseas amid a talent shortage, a survey showed Sunday.
According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, 75.4 percent of the 187 companies surveyed from June 13-23 said they found it challenging to hire and retain local professional software engineers.
A lack of talent was the biggest challenge facing them at 74.3 percent, and the pay gap between SMEs and large companies was considered the biggest reason for causing such a shortage.
The survey also showed 27.3 percent of the respondents had already hired foreign engineers, while 54.5 percent had plans to recruit them in the future.
India, Vietnam, China and Indonesia were the preferred nationalities among South Korean SMEs for offshore engineers, at 36.4 percent, 31 percent, 11.8 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively, who are paid at a lower rate than their South Korean peers.
The ministry said it would address the talent shortage issues by nurturing 100,000 software talent by 2027 and actively serving as a bridge connecting SMEs with local and offshore talent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency