Korea to cut OFW entry as ‘illegal’ Pinoys increase

The rising number of overstaying Filipino contract workers in South Korea could lead to cuts in labor quota for the Philippines under the Employment Permit System (EPS), a Korean official said over the weekend. Yong-Dal Kim, president of Korea’s human resources development service, said the South Korean government has allocated 10,000 jobs for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) over the next three years, adding that the same number of Filipinos are reportedly overstaying. Many Filipinos working under the EPS left their employers and opted “to work in companies hiring trainee workers because they were reportedly not paid according to what the contract says," a recruitment industry source has said. Mayen Jaymalin of the Overseas Filipino News earlier reported that the government of South Korea has announced plans to cut the rate of hiring Filipino workers to prevent further increase of undocumented overseas Filipinos there. South Korea abolished the Alien Industrial Trainee in January, replacing it with EPS. Under the EPS, licensed RP agencies deploying trainee workers to Korea can no longer recruit workers and Korean employers can only legally hire foreign workers through the EPS. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has advised Filipino trainee workers to return home when their contracts expire and re-apply under the EPS. Former trainees who wish to continue working legally must register with the POEA and comply with all the requirements. However, they can only get another employment in South Korea after six months. –GMANews.TV