Over 700 jobs up for grabs in Korea as recruitment resumes
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
A Z M Anas
South Korea has resumed recruitment of Bangladeshi workers under a special job scheme, officials said Sunday, in a major boost to the country's faltering labour export.
Officials said the Bangladesh Overseas Employment Services Ltd (BOESL), the state-owned recruiter, received last week a fresh job offer for more than 700 Bangladeshis who were on the roaster for placement in Korean companies, mainly smaller firms.
South Korean companies, hammered by the global financial and economic crisis, suspended taking in Bangladeshi workers in March 2009, just a year after it began recruitment from Bangladesh under its Employment Permit System (EPS).
The US$1.0 trillion South Korean economy, heavily reliant on exports, was hit hard, when the demand for merchandise in the developed world was crimped by the global financial crisis. That also sapped demand for foreign workers.
"This is small but important market. It's gonna offset the falling manpower export elsewhere in Asia and Europe," an official at BOESL said.
"Korean companies are increasingly looking for workers. So, this is high time we exploit this opportunity," he added.
The job offer came after Korea unveiled early this month quotas for 15 nations including Bangladesh as the Asia's fourth largest economy has flickered back to life.
A top official at BOESL said some 2500 Bangladeshi workers have secured jobs, mostly in the Korean manufacturing sector, since 2008 when Bangladesh began catering migrants to the labour market of Korea.
But the official estimated that around 5,000 Bangladeshi jobseekers who passed the online Korean language test conducted in Dhaka are still waiting for their job offer.
He urged the government to step up diplomatic drive to renew the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Dhaka and Seoul to expedite the deployment of workers. Signed in 2007, the deal expired last year and an interim agreement is now in place.
South Korea has resumed recruitment of Bangladeshi workers under a special job scheme, officials said Sunday, in a major boost to the country's faltering labour export.
Officials said the Bangladesh Overseas Employment Services Ltd (BOESL), the state-owned recruiter, received last week a fresh job offer for more than 700 Bangladeshis who were on the roaster for placement in Korean companies, mainly smaller firms.
South Korean companies, hammered by the global financial and economic crisis, suspended taking in Bangladeshi workers in March 2009, just a year after it began recruitment from Bangladesh under its Employment Permit System (EPS).
The US$1.0 trillion South Korean economy, heavily reliant on exports, was hit hard, when the demand for merchandise in the developed world was crimped by the global financial crisis. That also sapped demand for foreign workers.
"This is small but important market. It's gonna offset the falling manpower export elsewhere in Asia and Europe," an official at BOESL said.
"Korean companies are increasingly looking for workers. So, this is high time we exploit this opportunity," he added.
The job offer came after Korea unveiled early this month quotas for 15 nations including Bangladesh as the Asia's fourth largest economy has flickered back to life.
A top official at BOESL said some 2500 Bangladeshi workers have secured jobs, mostly in the Korean manufacturing sector, since 2008 when Bangladesh began catering migrants to the labour market of Korea.
But the official estimated that around 5,000 Bangladeshi jobseekers who passed the online Korean language test conducted in Dhaka are still waiting for their job offer.
He urged the government to step up diplomatic drive to renew the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Dhaka and Seoul to expedite the deployment of workers. Signed in 2007, the deal expired last year and an interim agreement is now in place.