Korean Job Discussion Forums

[liveinkorea316]

What you have in Japan right now that Korea is many many year away from, is a high wage economy. That is, that the man that cuts your hair, the woman that cleans your shirt and the guy that cooks your noodles can all afford to send their kids to college and take a holiday. Why? Because the wages for their jobs are high enough to pay for a living and save. Japan's per capita GDP is $44,000 per annum against Korea's $20,000 or so. double. Makes a huge difference.

If you go ahead and allow in masses of immigration you will forever prevent wages for certain jobs ever rising and create a stratified society where there are haves and have nots. If there is always more than enough people available to serve your coffee, drive your taxi, build your building or clean your toilet then why pay them more than 3,000won an hour?

Well, I said this is a stupid situation when you have millions of people unemployed and underemployed. Overtime, as Korea's economy continues to perform well, wages in lower level jobs should rise provided that cheap labor is not imported to suppress wages as was done in the USA. Jusa watch the Chaebols on that one.

There is a case for immigration but only where there is a genuine need. Firms must apply to government and show that no-native Korean can do that job. Basically the current system. Also that it would benefit society.

[meangradin]

I haven't read the article yet, but a thing that concerns me about the korean economy is that the average household debt has almost doubled in the last five years. most of this is attributable to housing prices. if i recall correctly, koreans currently spend close to 150% of their income.

[Konglishman]

[atwood]

[liveinkorea316]

In the case where South Korean in the upper class shunned lower class jobs and these jobs were left undone this would simply up the wages until eventually someone was willing to do that job.

That is how labor markets work

The labor maket is stratified into many thousands of bands not two - rich and poor.

Even at the moment, Koreans let in people from poorer nations to fill DDD jobs undermining their own labor markets underthe guise of economic efficiency when all it really does is undercut their own peoples wages.

[Yaya]

[atwood]

[jvalmer]

[liveinkorea316]

Yes Jvalmer, and to add to that, and to repeat myself, society is not just a binary set of 0.5[have] + 0.5[have not]= 1.0 Society

Society is stratified. There are always going to be those who will never do certain jobs but there will always be those who are just one bad test score away from flunking out of law school. One sick away from being fired from their job at a company and having to accept a job at a family mart to make ends meet. Someone who married into a family in a small ton who for family reasons is forced to live locally and must take a job below their capabilities etc....

All these people are hurt immensely by infloods of migrant labor which are let in by Chaebol leaders that want to keep wages low to enrichen their companies by making their exports cheaper.

[atwood]

[atwood]

[liveinkorea316]

Of course immigrant low wage labour creates benefits such as increasing the economic efficiency of the economy overall and of individual industries. Huge benefits.

It's just that there is a costs aswell. The cost is that they depress wages and contribute to income inequality and unemployment.

The idea the Korea needs to allow millions of low skilled workers into the country in coming decades is highly debatable.

People say that Koreans don't wanna do low skilled jonbs but I maintain that you will see that change when a taxi driver is getting $50k plus benefits for a 45 hour week and 6 weeks paid vacation and no night shifts.


It is all about job conditions, benfits and wages, not necessarily the type of job. If they prevented migrants they could eventually force conditions and wages to rise.

But alas I feel that Korea will follow the rest in feeling that it must let its own people starve on the streets and let people from other countries come in to steal the jobs from its own citizens. It happens in the West.

[atwood]

[jvalmer]

[liveinkorea316]

Korean taxi drivers are actually quite well protected by unions. The problem is that there are too many Korean men and women who are willing to do that job because they are under or un employed.

It will remain that way as long as I keep bumping into people from South Asian countries in my province working in local factories or construction whose jobs should really be done by local Koreans. They are unskilled jobs for less than 2million per month.

I just don't think it is right that a person from another Asian country should be doing a job in a Korean factory for a reasonable wage (more than 1.5 million won per month) when there are unemployed Korean graduates.

Now if you said that the Korean graduates were just not willing to take those jobs that would be fine. But that is not the case, they are not being given the chance. Hyundai and Kia and looking for one month and then petitioning the Governmment by crying "oh we could not find enough willing workers" hen really they didn't try hard enough by bending or changing conditions. Eventually Government relents and within a week you can have 1,000 warm bodies on the ground from South Asia ready to stand in line at the KIA factory for LESS THAN the Korean workers would have wanted anyway.

The Korean companies never will try hard to get Korean grads. The Grads do not really want that job. The company really does not want them. But some grads need just that little bit more convincing and some small companies need just a but more of a hard word from government that there will be no more cheap third world labor to solve all their problems. They have to use Koreans to make things in Korea.


But in the interests of the overall long term economy it is important that you do not sell out wages and living conditions to overseas people at the expense of those who were not born here.