Design and measurement are now foreign engineers!Construction Industry E-7-1 Issuance of Visa for the First Time

[Anchor]
Foreign workers are already in charge of much of Korea's construction work.

The era of foreigners has begun, not just labor, but also professional construction workers such as design and surveying.

After two years of hard work by several professional construction companies and associations, it has opened the way for new manpower supply and demand.

Reporter Kim Ki-bong covered it.

[Reporter]
Design, a sketch of architecture and civil engineering and a plan for all implementation work.

Measurements requiring precision enough to tear down the building that was being built if it was wrong.

Finding professional construction personnel to do this is a key task that is essential for construction sites, and 'picking stars in the sky'.

With the already reduced young population and avoidance of construction sites,
In fact, the number of construction engineers in the field is 60% in their 40s and 50s, while 15.7% in their 20s and 30s.

[Jeong Seok-jin / Head of Kyungdong Construction Management Support Team: About five years ago, there were about 100 applicants when they went to a job opening, but these days, about five or six people apply for a job, and among those five or six people, there are not many employees who actually lead to employment.]

Many of the simple labor jobs at construction sites have already been replaced by foreign workers, but professional construction engineers have still remained a sanctuary for Koreans.

However, after two years of efforts by two professional construction companies and associations, which had been suffering from manpower shortages, foreign professional construction engineers entered Korea for the first time this month.

The recruitment of foreign technical personnel, which has long been a concern for the construction industry and has remained only a wind, has finally become a reality. This is the result of persistent knocking on the door of the system that was dead.

We have constantly made inquiries and complaints to relevant ministries to issue visas for foreign engineers and professionals, which have been at manufacturers but have been excluded from construction sites.

In the end, we obtained the relaxation of visa issuance requirements, selected Vietnam, which has a large number of excellent personnel as the first selection site, and selected accurate human resources through local face-to-face interviews and practical tests following document screening and video interviews.

[Yoon Hak-soo / President of the Korea Specialized Construction Association] Actually, I didn't think it was easy, but we were desperate and needed, so we made active suggestions to the government and the National Assembly. We've been meeting for two years, discussing, explaining the need... [I understood and got active cooperation]
The number of people selected
is six, three each from two specialized construction companies, and it is expected to increase rapidly in the future as the road has been opened.

In other words, there is a way for those who have the needs and skills of Korean companies that are difficult to secure manpower but have nowhere to go due to lack of local jobs to "win-win."

The professional construction industry also plans to replace the workforce that manages and supervises simple foreign workers with foreigners in the future.

I'm Kim Ki-bong of YTN.



Photographer: Kang Young-kwan

Design: Baek Seungmin