[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province announced on the 31st that it plans to secure an additional 1.5 billion KRW through a supplementary budget to expand support in order to resolve difficulties in the shipbuilding industry, which is experiencing labor shortages and rising raw material prices despite an increase in ship orders.
Two shipbuilding companies located in Jeonnam, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and Daehan Shipbuilding, are enjoying a boom, having secured orders for 64 vessels last year, the highest performance since 2013. However, they are facing difficulties due to labor shortages to handle the orders and rising raw material prices.
Accordingly, Jeonnam Province will secure a budget of 1.5 billion KRW for six projects (four new and two existing expansions) in the first supplementary budget this year and begin full-scale support.
The four new projects include ▲supporting 200 new employees with 250,000 KRW per month for five months for relocation and settlement ▲supporting employers with 210,000 KRW per month for five months for 200 people as their share of employment retention subsidies ▲providing 600 million KRW to a corporation established by shipbuilding subcontractors for worker welfare as a joint labor welfare fund ▲supporting 100 re-employed workers who retired due to restructuring with 250,000 KRW per month for five months.
The two existing projects, ‘Shipbuilding Production Technology Workforce Training’ and ‘Shipbuilding Skilled Workforce Training,’ will expand the number of recipients of hiring support allowances and training allowances, each paying 600,000 KRW per month, by 90 people.
In addition, Jeonnam Province operates a ‘Special Task Force (T/F) for Shipbuilding Workforce Supply and Demand Support,’ which includes 14 institutions from industry, academia, research, and government related to shipbuilding, to fundamentally solve the labor shortage problem in shipbuilding.
The special task force has jointly proposed to the government the extension of the designation of shipbuilding as a special employment industry and employment crisis area, raising training allowances for skilled shipbuilding workers, simplifying procedures for introducing foreign workers, and upgrading the Mokpo branch office of the Gwangju Immigration and Foreigners Office to a full office. It is also consulting with the Ministry of Employment and Labor and other central government agencies on countermeasures to resolve these issues.
Kim Jong-gap, Director of the Strategic Industry Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, “We will spare no support to resolve the difficulties of the shipbuilding industry, a key industry in the southwestern region of Jeonnam,” and added, “We will strive to solve problems by collecting various opinions, including voices from the field, and making proposals to the government to ensure timely supply of labor, which is a pressing issue.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
