South Korea Considers Hiring Foreign Nationals as Domestic Helpers

 

Filipinos in South Korea

There are serious problems in the growing demand for domestic helpers in South Korea for several reasons. First is that most women in Korea are now reluctant to work as domestic helpers. Second, due to the pandemic, the number of ethnic Koreans from China coming to Korea has significantly dropped. These reasons, and more, create an imbalance in the supply and demand for domestic helpers. There are more demands, but low supply, and that has led to an increase in price.

In order to resolve this issue, the Ministry of Employment and Labor assigned the Korea Employment Welfare Pension to look for ways to hire foreign nationals as domestic helpers. The research could take up to one year, so in case there will be opportunities for foreign nationals to work as domestic helpers in South Korea, we expect that hiring will start in 2022.

As there’s no current system for the domestic helper market in South Korea, the ministry is working to establish a law to protect the rights of the existing domestic helpers in the country. This law will help housekeepers to become wage laborers and therefore can receive benefits like protection, paid leave, severance pay, and insurance. Unless this law will put into place, hiring foreign nationals as domestic helpers will not push through. 

The Ministry is very much open to the possibility of this because there are a lot of advantages. Aside from it can help balance the supply and demand in the domestic helper market of the country; it can also help provide employment to women from other countries especially in South East Asia. Second, if working couples have a housekeeper to take care of their home and their child; this could probably increase the birth rate as couples will have more time together after work as they don’t need to worry about household chores.

The research has already started in March, so by next year, there will be a system for hiring domestic helpers from other countries. The law for Korean domestic labor conditions was filed in April, and if the bill is approved, it will take effect in the year 2022. So it’s just really a matter of time and South Korea will soon announce that they will start hiring domestic helpers in South Korea.