S Korea demands more workers

South Korea made a demand for 4,033 workers in the last three months. It has speeded up hiring Nepalis under the Employment Permit System (EPS) in the recent past.

The demand for workers from South Korea is encouraging, said director at EPS Nepal office Mahesh Acharya. “They have hired a significant number of Nepali workers in the last three months which is encouraging,” he said. According to the Department of Foreign Employment, about 1,036 Nepalis have reached the destination between mid-December and mid-March. South Korea hired 16 Nepali workers under EPS in Poush (mid-December to mid-January) followed by 116 in Magh (mid-January to mid-February) and 904 in Falgun (mid-February to mid-March).

“More Nepalis will fly to Seoul in the coming days,” he said, adding more than half of the 15,200 EPS job aspirants will reach Korea in another four months. If there is no obstacle in the hiring process, EPS Nepal will achieve the target, said Acharya. According to EPS Nepal, a batch of 345 Nepali workers flew to Seoul on Sunday. Likewise, about 113 Nepalis will leave for South Korean jobs on April 9-10.

South Korea has been hiring workers since August 2008 following an agreement between Nepali and South Korean governments in 2007. About 10,000 Nepalis are believed to be working in the destination and over 8,000 are in the destination through the EPS process.

Published on: 2 April 2012 | The Himalayan Times