Ahn Cheol-soo pushes to expand career, working-condition data for foreign workers

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo, who represents Bundang-gap in Gyeonggi Province, announced Saturday that he had introduced a bill to amend the Act on Foreign Workers' Employment. The bill aims to help employers better verify job candidates' qualifications and ensure foreign workers have access to accurate information about their working conditions before entering the country.

Under the current employment permit system, the information available to employers when hiring foreign workers is limited to nationality, age and Korean language proficiency, making it difficult to determine whether a candidate has the experience or skills the job actually requires, Ahn said.

Foreign workers often have little access before arrival to details about the actual nature of the work, the workplace location or accommodation arrangements, which can lead to a gap between their expectations and the reality they encounter after entering the country.

The bill would add "sector-specific work experience" and "vocational training history" as explicit criteria in the evaluation process used to select foreign job applicants. It would also require employers to submit detailed job conditions — including wage levels, working hours, workplace location, job duties and accommodation information — when applying for an employment permit. The goal is to reduce hiring failures and early departures caused by mismatches between workers and positions.

"Employers should be able to hire people with the right experience and skills, and foreign workers should be able to make informed choices about what kind of work they will be doing and in what environment," Ahn said. "I want to build an employment permit system that benefits both employers and foreign workers by reducing unnecessary staffing gaps and early departures that stem from a lack of information during the hiring process."