The iron and steel, power generation, and petrochemical plant industries are lamenting a labor shortage and requesting permission to hire foreign workers at construction sites. The construction industry is allowed to employ foreign workers under the employment permit system (E-9 visa), but these sectors are banned from hiring and admitting foreign workers due to concerns about technology leaks and opposition from labor unions.

The Korea Iron & Steel Association submitted a report titled 'Policy tasks for the steel industry desired by the new government' to the co-representatives of the National Assembly's Steel Forum in May. The association requested permission for the employment of foreign workers at construction sites within steel mills to address the labor shortage issue.

This is a view of the POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks. /Courtesy of POSCO

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has exempted the employment permit system from applying to construction licenses at construction sites for steel mills, power plants, and petrochemical facilities if they qualify as industrial environmental equipment. This includes construction work for industrial production facilities such as steel and petrochemical plants and power plant equipment.

The steel industry is lamenting the labor shortage. According to the steel association, approximately 2,000 construction workers are needed for maintenance work at steel mills. However, since steel mills are located in suburban areas away from urban centers and local populations are aging, securing qualified permanent workers is challenging.

A representative from the steel industry noted, 'If maintenance is not performed on time, it will significantly disrupt business plans. For safety reasons, it is necessary to relax the regulations on the employment of foreign workers.'

Hyundai Engineering installs a reactor, which is a core facility of the polyethylene process, standing 46m tall and weighing 505t, at the site of the Shahin Project Package-2, a project for the establishment of the Ulsan petrochemical production facility for S-OIL. /Courtesy of Hyundai Engineering

Voices calling for the allowance of foreign workers at construction sites are also increasing in the plant industry. Since 2007, employment of foreign construction workers has been blocked in the plant industry under the pretext of preventing technology leaks and protecting jobs for Koreans.

According to the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association (CW)'s '2025 outlook on the supply and demand of construction workers', the demand for construction skilled workers this year is 1,824,700, but it is estimated that only about 80% can be filled with the Korean workforce. The shortage of workers is expected to reach 360,000. The labor shortage is particularly pronounced in large plant construction sites where hiring foreign labor is impossible. Companies express that they urgently need foreign labor, but there is strong opposition from plant construction unions.

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)-affiliated national plant construction union protested last year in front of the Government Complex Seoul, stating, 'Half of our 100,000 union members are unemployed, and if the introduction of foreign labor is allowed, it will become even harder to find jobs.' An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, 'We are continuously monitoring whether there is a labor shortage at steel mills and other facilities.'

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