South Korean labor officials informed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that the old regulation requiring Korean companies to keep their workforce composition at 50% Koreans and 50% foreign workers has been removed.

Thus, job quotas for Filipino migrant workers in South Korea are expected to increase this year.

Korea Human Resources Development Service Managing Director Dr. Lee Chung-Bok said the resulting upsurge in South Korea's foreign labor requirements "will definitely increase" South Korea's job quota for the Philippines with a corresponding expansion in the country's economy.

Past policies

Last year, the job quota for the Philippines was 6,000. This was assigned by the South Korean government in the implementation of the new Employment Permit System (EPS).

The 6,000-job quota was assigned to thirteen Korean companies engaged in the manufacture of electronics, furniture, textile and metal products. Thus, only about 900 OFWs were deployed to South Korea last year. This data was according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)a.

The South Korean officials, however, assured the Labor department that the remaining 5,100 job openings would be carried over to the new job quota for 2005. The EPS law in South Korea, which was implemented in August 2004, has placed overseas Filipino workers on a salary level which is at par to their Korean counterparts.

The POEA estimated that a Filipino worker could earn a minimum salary of 640,000 won or about $500 in a one-year contract that may be renewed in three years. The new system has also placed Filipino migrant workers on equal footing with South Korean workers in terms of protection given by Korean labor laws assuring them of better treatment on Korean laws on labor standards, labor relations, and employment, medical and accident insurance schemes.