Yeongam-gun, Full Effort to Secure Workforce During Spring Farming Season

Seeking Measures to Secure Foreign Workers and Expand Rural Volunteer Activities

[Yeongam=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Jae-kyung] Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do held a meeting to respond to the supply and demand of rural labor during the busy farming season and sought measures to resolve the shortage of rural labor.

Due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19, the decrease in the entry of foreign workers has made securing labor even more difficult, causing wage rates to rise sharply.

Also, Yeongam-gun's expected average daily wage this year is formed up to a maximum of 150,000 KRW, about 30% higher than last year, and it is expected to rise further during the spring busy farming season.

Accordingly, the meeting held on the 28th at the Yeongam-gun Farmers' Rest Area involved four agricultural cooperative labor brokerage centers and related departments to prepare support measures for labor supply and demand during the spring busy farming season amid ongoing rural aging and COVID-19.

They reviewed the labor supply and demand response plans of each labor brokerage center, shared and exchanged opinions on measures to resolve the labor shortage such as the operation of rural labor brokerage centers, cooperation for helping hands during the busy farming season, and plans to operate residential-type farming work teams.

Yeongam-gun received an allocation of 73 foreign seasonal workers from the Ministry of Justice this year and plans to prepare support measures to ensure this leads to stable labor supply.

They also plan to pilot the operation of residential-type farming work teams through collaboration with urban labor brokerage centers and proposed expanding rural volunteer activities in cooperation with military units and nearby universities.

Additionally, they will accelerate the construction of dormitories for agricultural workers, scheduled to be completed next year, to do their best to secure stable rural labor.