Seoul has eased visa requirements for foreign shipyard workers as the nation embarks on a very busy couple of years to get through gigantic orderbooks.
Samsung Heavy Industries welcomed 41 Indonesian welders to its workforce over the weekend, the single largest batch of foreign workers to come to South Korea since the government eased visa regulations for them in December in a bid to help deal with a manpower shortage facing the local shipbuilding industry. Other Korean yards are also taking advantage of the new ruling to bring in overseas help.
During a downturn in the previous decade, many local shipyard workers were let go leading to today’s labour shortages.
