(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — A total of 100 foreigners will be employed for housekeeping jobs as early as later this year as part of a government pilot project to address a dwindling number of locals willing to work as maids despite rising demand, officials said Friday.
The project, scheduled to be introduced in Seoul as early as December, aims to tackle the shortage of local individuals willing to work as maids and to support women in continuing their careers, according to the Office for Government Policy Coordination under the Prime Minister’s Office.
Under the project, 100 people from mostly Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, will provide housekeeping and infant care services for approximately six months, the office said.
Priority in the project will be given to households where both the husband and the wife are in their 20s to 40s and are working, as well as to single-parent families, households with pregnant women and families with multiple children.
Households can also hire foreign maids for part-time jobs, and these maids are likely to be paid less than the current market rate for housekeeping jobs, which is 15,000 won (US$11.40) per hour, officials said.
“It is a necessary measure to effectively respond to a labor shortage,” Government Policy Coordination Minister Bang Ki-seon said, stressing the need for comprehensive monitoring since the project directly relates to family affairs.
State-authorized employment agencies will initially hire foreign domestic workers with E-9 visas and place them in households, with potential candidates aged 24 or over undergoing screening.
The government will conduct background checks on foreign workers, including their career history, criminal records, drug-related records, and proficiency in the Korean and English languages, officials said.
The number of local domestic helpers has gradually decreased, with 92.3 percent of them aged over 50, according to the labor ministry.
Domestic workers who reside in their employer’s home while providing housekeeping or care work typically charge about 3.5 to 4.5 million won per month.
The government plans to expand the service to other parts of the country after conducting an analysis of the pilot project’s performance.
(Yonhap)
