Korea should quadruple immigrants in 10 years to tackle labor shortage

[Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

South Korea should not miss the golden hour for building a society of immigration amid the low birthrate crisis that is growing in the country, impacting growth, employment, social integration, and rural depopulation, according to experts.

They recommend that Korea should lay the foundation to integrate immigrants into society by quadrupling the annual influx of foreigners in the next 10 years and implement a bold immigration policy to grow the number of unskilled workers twofold and that of skilled and professional workers more than tenfold.

According to a joint analysis conducted by Maeil Business Newspaper and the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), Korea will need to accept 431,000 foreigners annually to bring its immigration rate to Group of Five (G5) levels by 2032.

Currently, the annual growth of foreign residents in Korea stands at about a mere 100,000. This number needs to be increased by more than four times to create an immigrant society that matches the level of developed countries.

In particular, Korea needs to maximize the economic impact of immigrants and fill the labor shortage caused by the declining birthrate to maintain a sustainable growth path.

According to KERI, about 200,000 to 300,000 fewer people will be employed every year in the next 10 years, indicating a labor shortage of nearly 2 million in 2031.

To tackle the issue, the government has increased the quota for E-9 visas granted to unskilled workers to 110,000 this year, a 60 percent increase from last year.

However, experts recommend that it should be doubled to fill jobs before labor shortage becomes an impediment to economic growth.

It is also urgent for the country to encourage more skill- and settlement-oriented immigration. Currently, the number of specialized workers such as researchers, professionals, investors, and entrepreneurs is about 57,000, accounting for only 2.6 percent of all foreigners in Korea.

The number of skilled laborers was also a mere 5,219 at the end of last year. Bold action is needed to increase the number of skilled foreigners tenfold over the next 10 years, experts note.

Maeil Business Newspaper proposed a 10-point action plan to transform Korea into an immigration powerhouse in 10 years, including establishing an immigration policy control tower, introducing a visa for this purpose, overhauling the visa system, revamping the 20-year-old employment permit system, and launching an integrated fund for immigration.