A major shipbuilder is seeking more than a thousand skilled Thai labourers to join its workforce in South Korea.
The Ministry of Labour's Department of Employment has been informed by Samsung Heavy Industries, a major shipbuilding company in South Korea, that it wants another 1,227 Thai skilled labourers for its workforce, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said on Sunday.
The 1,227 wanted include 527 welders, 500 painters and 200 electricians - with monthly salaries of 2.5 million - 3 million Korean won, about 90,000 - 108,000 Thai baht.
Mr Suchart said the Labour Ministry has been in close contact with Khoshipa, the Korea Offshore and Shipbuilding Association, in order to send Thai workers to South Korea with E-7 visas for skilled labour.
As a result, job placement firms in the country had earlier informed the ministry that they had been contracted to supply 4,477 workers for seven shipbuilding firms. So far 711 had been sent to South Korea, he said.
"South Korea is becoming an aged society and has begun to run short of skilled workers," Mr Suchart said. "So they are offering high salaries and overtime for foreign skilled workers to work in the country, particularly in the shipbuilding industry. This is a good opportunity as Thai skilled workers are acceptable to foreign employers,".
Pairoj Chotikasathien, director-general of the Department of Employment, said there are five ways for workers to acquire jobs overseas.
The first two ways are for them to be sent overseas by job placement firms or by the Department of Employment. Thirdly, they can seek overseas jobs by themselves. The other two channels are for employers in Thailand themselves to send them abroad, either to work or under job training programmes.
