The Korea Specialty Construction Association (KCA) (Chairman Hak-soo Yoon) has become the first in the construction industry to conduct an overseas skills verification for the introduction of foreign specialists (E7-1) to specialized construction companies in order to resolve the shortage of manpower at construction sites.
In addition to simple laborers such as non-professional workers (E-9) and visiting workers (H-2), construction sites also need foreign workers with specialized skills due to the aging of domestic technicians and job changes.
Accordingly, the Korea Association of Construction Industry is promoting the introduction of foreign professional personnel (E7-1) to meet the needs of member companies that are having difficulty securing specialized technical personnel.
The E7-1 visa is currently available for 67 managerial and professional occupations, including architects, architectural engineers, civil engineers, and landscape architects. However, the Korean Association of Construction Workers (KCWA) explained that in reality, no visas have been issued in the construction industry.
The Korean Association of Engineers for Construction (KAK) conducted a four-day, three-night overseas skills assessment program starting on the 19th. This assessment targeted 45 foreign engineers from Vietnamese vocational schools, conducted through its member company, Banseok Construction Co., Ltd. (CEO Jeon Ju-kwon) and the dispatching company, Codeline Co., Ltd. (CEO Han Jong-seok). As a result, 13 of them plan to apply for E7-1 visas from the Ministry of Justice.
Furthermore, a second on-site capability verification will be conducted with Kyungdong Construction (CEO Kim Dong-gyu) for three nights and four days, starting March 17th. Afterwards, we plan to assess the overall demand for the E7-1 from our member companies and pursue full-scale business expansion.
The Korean Federation of Small and Medium Businesses also plans to improve the system, including shortening the time it takes to issue an E7-1 visa from the current three months or more to one to two months, in order to quickly secure on-site manpower.
In addition, to promote the employment of domestic workers, the Construction Workers’ Mutual Aid Association will continue to promote the ‘Construction New Master’ project and ‘Construction Dream Net’, and will support the stable supply of manpower to member companies through the influx of young domestic workers.
