Foreign workers with E-9 visas will be able to legally work at hotels and rented overnight accommodations across South Korea starting in 2024, officials said Friday, as the government seeks to tackle labor shortages in major industries.
Previously, E-9 visa holders could only work in the agriculture, fishing, manufacturing and construction sectors. The visa is issued for migrant workers wanting to engage in jobs that require manual or nonprofessional labor.
The announcement came after a foreign workforce policy committee meeting was held on Friday to finalize the 2024 plan to allow more industries to hire nonskilled foreign workers and add more countries to the approved list of where they can hire such workers from.
The committee on creating policy for foreign workers also said that it would allow E-9 visa holders to work in the hospitality industry beginning next year, as hotels across the country are grappling with chronic staffing shortages.
Hotels in Korea are combating dire labor shortages especially as workers who left the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic have yet to return. The industry has been unable to meet growing demand from customers, which has bounced back since the end of the pandemic.
At first, nonskilled foreign workers will only be allowed to work as cleaners and kitchen assistants in accommodation facilities across four regions: Seoul, Busan, Gangwon Province and Jeju Island. The government will consider expanding the program nationwide following the test-run.
Meanwhile, the committee has decided to designate Tajikistan as the 17th labor-sending country under the Employment Permit System amid growing demand for foreign workers. Since 2015, 16 countries, including the Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand and Uzbekistan, have been able to send workers here under the system.
Tajikistani workers will start working here in 2025 after the Korean government and the Tajikistan government sign a memorandum of understanding in 2024.
The government said it would designate additional labor-sending countries after receiving applications from more candidates.
The government previously announced on Nov. 27 it would allow foreign workers with E-9 visas to work in local restaurants for the first time as well in 2024. It was part of the plan to expand the quota for the E-9 working visa for nonprofessional job opportunities to 165,000, up 37.5 percent from 2023.
These measures come as part of broader efforts to ease chronic labor shortages in industries that do not require special skills. Korea is currently grappling with the world's lowest birth rate and a rapidly aging population, resulting in many industries suffering from worsening labor shortages.
