86.5% of Foreign Students in Korea Hope to Work in Korea After Graduation

Korea Federation of SMEs Announces Results of
"Foreign Students' Career Path Survey"

It was found that nearly 90% of foreign students who studied in Korea hope to find employment in Korea after graduation. However, a high percentage responded that it is difficult to obtain a specific activity (E-7) visa required for employment activities.

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced the results of the "Foreign Students' Career Path Survey after Graduation," conducted on 805 foreign students enrolled in domestic universities, on the 26th. According to the survey, 86.5% of all foreign students hope to work in Korea after graduation, with 90.8% of students in associate degree programs showing a particularly strong desire for employment. By region, the non-metropolitan area (87.2%) was slightly higher than the metropolitan area (85.3%).

The reasons for wanting to work in Korea were ▲to continue living in Korea (35.2%) ▲higher salary levels compared to their home countries (27.7%) ▲to work in their field of interest (25.6%), and among those hoping to find employment, 63.6% wished to work for more than three years.

Foreign students in Korea must obtain a specific activity (E-7) visa to engage in employment activities after graduation based on an employment contract, but 66.7% of respondents said it is difficult to obtain an E-7 visa. Among them, associate degree students showed the highest rate at 73.3%. The main reasons cited were ▲few companies hiring with E-7 visas (40%) ▲limited job categories for the E-7 visa (21.4%) ▲lack of information about companies offering E-7 visas (19.6%). Despite the difficulties in obtaining the E-7 visa, 64.3% of all respondents said they would stay in Korea even if they could not find a job.

Under the current system, the non-professional employment (E-9) visa cannot be converted from a student (D-2) or job-seeking (D-10) visa, but when asked if they would be willing to obtain an E-9 visa if conversion were allowed, 58.8% of all students responded that they would like to obtain an E-9 visa to work in production positions at small and medium-sized enterprises. In particular, 67.2% of associate degree students expressed a desire to obtain the E-9 visa, showing the highest rate.

Myungro Lee, Head of the Human Resources Policy Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, “Many foreign students show a strong will to work in Korea, but the difficulty in obtaining the E-7 visa limits actual employment opportunities,” and added, “This also poses an obstacle to resolving the manpower shortage faced by small and medium-sized enterprises. Actively utilizing students with Korean language skills in SME workplaces is expected to have positive effects such as improved communication, increased productivity, and prevention of industrial accidents. Therefore, a thorough review of allowing conversion to the non-professional employment (E-9) visa is necessary.”