Gyeonggi-do to Supply 270,000 Workers for Busy Farming Season This Year

Gyeonggi-do is supplying a total of approximately 270,000 workers from the public sector to support rural areas suffering from labor shortages during the busy farming season. This workforce includes job seekers from rural workforce brokerage centers, foreign seasonal workers, and volunteer personnel.

On May 6, Gyeonggi-do announced that it estimates the total labor demand in the agricultural sector this year at 1.2 million people, and plans to supply 270,000 of these through the public sector.

The specific procurement plan includes approximately 42,000 people through rural workforce brokerage centers and public seasonal labor brokerage, 180,000 people through labor support from the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and organizations, and 36,000 people through community service orders from the Ministry of Justice. In addition, about 4,000 farm-based seasonal workers and 8,000 foreign workers under the employment permit system are included.

Gyeonggi-do will first operate a labor supply support situation room in cooperation with city and county governments until June. The province will monitor the progress of farm work, labor supply and wage trends on a weekly basis, focusing on nine cities and counties operating rural workforce brokerage centers and public seasonal labor: Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek, Paju, Gimpo, Pocheon, Yangpyeong, Anseong, Yeoju, and Yeoncheon.

Gyeonggi-do's Support Policy for Rural Workforce During the Busy Farming Season

Currently, 11 rural workforce brokerage centers and public seasonal labor centers are being operated in nine cities and counties. These centers connect domestic and foreign workers to small and medium-sized farms without charging any fees, helping to reduce labor costs for the farms. The province also manages the performance of these centers on an ongoing basis.

As of the end of last month, 3,032 foreign seasonal workers were working in 19 cities and counties in the province. This represents about 70% of the 4,336 workers allocated for the first half of this year, and more than 90% are expected to be deployed to agricultural sites this month.

Park Jongmin, Director of the Department of Agricultural, Fisheries, and Life Sciences, said, "We will operate a precise labor support system tailored to the type and timing of farm work, and establish a field-oriented, practical labor support system by combining the efforts of both the public and private sectors."