Seoul: Foreign slaughterhouse workers have entered South Korea on work visas, marking the first such case amid personnel shortages in the domestic slaughter industry, the justice ministry said Tuesday. Twelve such workers have entered the country on E-7-3 visas, or General Skilled Worker Visas, the ministry announced, as part of its pilot project to invite 300 slaughterhouse workers over the next two years.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the ministry added slaughterhouses to the list of businesses allowed to employ migrant workers on the E-7-3 visa in September. This decision was in response to the industry's repeated calls for skilled foreign personnel to alleviate its severe labor shortages. The shortages stem primarily from a lack of new entrants amid the aging of the existing workforce, market sources indicated.
The ministry has recently abolished the ceiling that limited businesses to employing two migrant workers, now allowing employers to recruit foreign workers equivalent to 20 percent of their local staff. "We will continue to actively reflect the voices from the field into our immigration policy," Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho stated.