Foreign workers make up 15% of Korea's construction labor force

A picture shows a construction site in Gyeonggi Province (Yonhap)

Foreign laborers account for nearly 15 percent of construction workers here, according to a local report Sunday.

According to the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association, the number of foreign construction workers came to 109,865 as of March this year, accounting for 14.8 percent of the total 741,698 workers at construction sites.

Of them, 99,836 were men, up 4,147 on-year, while the number of women increased slightly to 10,029.

The increase was fastest among workers in their 20s, with a 22.1 percent on-year increase to 16,259, while those in their 30s and 40s increased 7.8 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively, during the same period.

The number of foreign construction workers has been on an upward trend. The figure increased from 77,047 in 2020 to 93,404 in 2022. During the same period, their share of the workforce has risen from 12.9 percent to 14.1 percent.

The report said the actual number of foreign workers could be higher considering those who were working illegally and therefore not counted in the figures.

In a separate report, the construction workers’ association estimated that the number of foreign construction workers could have reached some 436,000 people last year, more than triple the official number.

"The number of foreign construction workers will continue to increase as is getting more difficult to find Korean workers. Korean workers tend to avoid physically strenuous jobs, like concrete work,” an industry source from the construction industry said.

By Shim Woo-hyun(ws@heraldcorp.com)