Seasonal Workers in Gokseong-gun Solve Labor Shortage During Peak Farming Season

Foreign Seasonal Workers, High Satisfaction Among Farms

Frequent On-Site Inspections and Grievance Consultations Conducted to Protect Human Rights

The introduction of the ‘Gokseong-gun Public-Type Foreign Seasonal Workers’ has been successfully settling in as local farms continue to give positive reviews after more than two months.

Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do, announced that the seasonal workers from Muang Thapa Bat, Laos, who arrived on February 22, have been supporting local farms without any unauthorized absences.

[Photo by Gokseong-gun]

They signed labor contracts with Gokseong Nonghyup, a public-type labor brokerage center, and for about two months have been deployed to local farms in need of labor, performing tasks such as melon planting, strawberry and potato harvesting, and orchard fertilizer application.

The ‘public-type seasonal workers,’ introduced for the first time this year, have Gokseong Nonghyup acting as the intermediary for Laotian foreign seasonal workers. Farms receiving the workers have reported high satisfaction as they can reduce the burden of lodging and meals for foreign seasonal workers and also employ them for short periods.

Additionally, the average age of the Laotian seasonal workers deployed to farms is 34, younger than the workers in the local rural labor market, and due to prior agricultural training, their work speed is faster, leading to an increase in farms utilizing their services.

Gokseong-gun and Gokseong Nonghyup have assigned married immigrant women as interpreters to facilitate smooth communication between workers and farms and are conducting continuous monitoring.

Local farms that received labor support from the public-type seasonal workers said, “We have always been worried about labor shortages while farming, but being able to hire workers at reasonable wages has been a great help.”

A county official stated, “Demand for foreign seasonal workers introduced to resolve rural labor shortages is rapidly increasing, and we will strive to provide practical assistance to farms through systematic management,” adding, “We will regularly inspect the sites to protect workers’ human rights, listen to the seasonal workers’ difficulties, and provide counseling.”

Gokseong = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Cha Jong-seon hss79@asiae.co.kr