Korean gov’t puts in specialist in official name for housekeeping workers

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The South Korean government has chosen “housekeeping specialist” as the official name for housekeeping workers. Instead of commonly used titles like “ajumma,” or “auntie,” they are encouraged to be referred to as housekeeping specialist.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on Wednesday that 42.5 percent of the 10,623 participants in a recent survey and interview selected “housekeeping specialist” as the new title.

The survey was conducted with the Housekeeping Service Comprehensive Support Center, which is composed of the Korean Housekeeping Workers Association and the National Employment Service Association.

The name change comes as there has been a growing recognition that housekeeping workers were not adequately respected professionally while being addressed with various informal titles such as ajumma or auntie. The employment ministry aims to create an environment for a shift in the perception of housekeeping workers by promoting the use of the new title in daily life. As the social interest in such workers has increased, especially with the upcoming pilot introduction of the foreign housekeeping worker system as early as the end of the year, the government has taken active measures.

The government also plans to improve the quality of housekeeping services by steadily expanding the number of government-certified housekeeping service providers. Following the implementation of the Domestic Workers Act in June last year, the number of government-certified organizations increased to 50 as of last month.

In the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s daily care service project, there is also intergovernmental cooperation so that local governments can prioritize government-certified agencies when selecting domestic service providers if the conditions are the same. The daily care service, which was implemented last month with a budget of 28 billion won ($21.55 million), provides services such as home care, housekeeping, and psychological support to middle-aged and elderly people who need the care of others in their daily lives.

Apart from these efforts, the employment ministry is also cooperating with Seoul and local governments promote government-certified institutions in the domestic service support business.