South Korea opens door to 4,600 more OFWs

Close to 5,000 Filipino workers are allowed to work in South Korea’s manufacturing sector this year under the Employment Permit System (EPS), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Wednesday.

This was after South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) raised the ceiling for new Filipino workers in the manufacturing sector from 4,400 to 4,600 for 2015.

Labor Attaché Felicitas Bay of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) said there was an increase in the demand for OFWs in the manufacturing sector after the country captured 13.98 percent of the alloted quota for new entrants.

“If we go by the total number, there was an increase in demand for OFWs. Last year, the quota for the Philippines was at 12.71 percent. In 2013, out of the 42,600 quota, we were given a total of 4,400 slots, or at 9.86 percent of the workforce allowed in the manufacturing industry,” she said.

DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Philippines' good standing in the EPS was partly due to the decrease in the number of undocumented Filipin workers in South Korea.

The number of undocumented workers went down by seven percent in 2014, lowering the number of illegal migrants from 6,548 to 6,005 since 2013.

Meanwhile, the total of Filipino workers under the EPS system rose from 20,632 in 2013 to 23,948 last year.

South Korea set this year's overall foreign workers quota in the manufacturing sector at 42,000. Of this number, 32,890 are apportioned for new entrants, while 9,510 are allocated for returning foreign workers. Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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