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More young Koreans coming to Singapore in search of work
Faced by the difficulty of finding a job back home, more South Koreans are choosing to come to Singapore – even if they are overqualified for the positions they take up here.
SINGAPORE: Ms Lee Ju Yeon wanted to further her studies and see the world after graduating from Seoul's Kyunghee University back in 2003.
She spent some time living and working overseas, and returned with a Master’s degree from a UK university. But she was unable to find a job in Korea.
The 35-year-old said: “It’s really hard to get a job in Korea if you are older than your peers, because the culture is different from other countries. If you're a fresh graduate, you have to be a certain age. So the problem was that there was no company that wanted to hire me because I was too old for their standards.”
Ms Lee eventually found work as a senior associate at a gaming company in Singapore.
While she admitted it is slightly more expensive for her to live here, the better work-life balance - and the fact that she gets to work with people from all over the world - makes up for it.
The same holds true for younger Koreans like Song Ji Aei. The 20-year-old is currently a university student, but took a break and came to Singapore to work as a waitress at a hotel for a year. She has plans to return to Singapore to look for a full-time job when she graduates. “Singapore is very nice, and their hotels are also very well-run. It's my dream to work here,” she said.
There were an estimated 15,000 Koreans residing in Singapore five years ago according to Craig Kwon, a recruitment consultant at JAC Recruitment. He thinks the number has since doubled to about 30,000. “It's getting harder to find a job in Korea, so they’re willing to relocate to the other countries for their first job,” Mr Kwon explained. He expects the number to continue increasing. “I definitely see this number increasing every year. They can speak English, so they want to choose a country with an English-speaking base like Singapore or Hong Kong.”
He added that there is currently an emphasis on technical degrees like Engineering and Electronics in Korea, which puts those with more general degrees such as Business Administration at a disadvantage. "Those with a good background and can speak English well will want to go to the banking and finance industry, or IT. “But those in the second-tier universities, or cannot speak English very well, will then have to consider the service industry. The majority of them eventually join hotels or the F&B industry.”
Koreans who come to Singapore are also more willing to take up internships or contract positions, as this provides an opportunity to add to their work experience while also helping them improve their command of English. Companies in Singapore - particularly in the hospitality and food and beverage industries - are benefiting from the increase.
Marina Mandarin Hotel Marketing and Communications Director Patricia Yong revealed that they typically have about eight to 20 young Koreans as interns or trainees at any one time. “But we don’t usually offer them full-time or permanent positions, as that would add to our quota for foreign workers under the Manpower Ministry's guidelines. However, we will consider them for a permanent position if they do well.”
Ms Yong said the Koreans are fast learners. They usually work in the food and beverage outlets or in the front office, but have an added advantage in the hotel's Chinese restaurant. "The Korean culture is very similar to Asian grace, warmth and care, so in terms of service aspect, they have a lot to offer.”
She added that South Korea will continue to be a source the hotel would look towards to alleviate the current manpower crunch faced by Singapore's hospitality industry.
Faced by the difficulty of finding a job back home, more South Koreans are choosing to come to Singapore – even if they are overqualified for the positions they take up here.
SINGAPORE: Ms Lee Ju Yeon wanted to further her studies and see the world after graduating from Seoul's Kyunghee University back in 2003.
She spent some time living and working overseas, and returned with a Master’s degree from a UK university. But she was unable to find a job in Korea.
The 35-year-old said: “It’s really hard to get a job in Korea if you are older than your peers, because the culture is different from other countries. If you're a fresh graduate, you have to be a certain age. So the problem was that there was no company that wanted to hire me because I was too old for their standards.”
Ms Lee eventually found work as a senior associate at a gaming company in Singapore.
While she admitted it is slightly more expensive for her to live here, the better work-life balance - and the fact that she gets to work with people from all over the world - makes up for it.
The same holds true for younger Koreans like Song Ji Aei. The 20-year-old is currently a university student, but took a break and came to Singapore to work as a waitress at a hotel for a year. She has plans to return to Singapore to look for a full-time job when she graduates. “Singapore is very nice, and their hotels are also very well-run. It's my dream to work here,” she said.
There were an estimated 15,000 Koreans residing in Singapore five years ago according to Craig Kwon, a recruitment consultant at JAC Recruitment. He thinks the number has since doubled to about 30,000. “It's getting harder to find a job in Korea, so they’re willing to relocate to the other countries for their first job,” Mr Kwon explained. He expects the number to continue increasing. “I definitely see this number increasing every year. They can speak English, so they want to choose a country with an English-speaking base like Singapore or Hong Kong.”
He added that there is currently an emphasis on technical degrees like Engineering and Electronics in Korea, which puts those with more general degrees such as Business Administration at a disadvantage. "Those with a good background and can speak English well will want to go to the banking and finance industry, or IT. “But those in the second-tier universities, or cannot speak English very well, will then have to consider the service industry. The majority of them eventually join hotels or the F&B industry.”
Koreans who come to Singapore are also more willing to take up internships or contract positions, as this provides an opportunity to add to their work experience while also helping them improve their command of English. Companies in Singapore - particularly in the hospitality and food and beverage industries - are benefiting from the increase.
Marina Mandarin Hotel Marketing and Communications Director Patricia Yong revealed that they typically have about eight to 20 young Koreans as interns or trainees at any one time. “But we don’t usually offer them full-time or permanent positions, as that would add to our quota for foreign workers under the Manpower Ministry's guidelines. However, we will consider them for a permanent position if they do well.”
Ms Yong said the Koreans are fast learners. They usually work in the food and beverage outlets or in the front office, but have an added advantage in the hotel's Chinese restaurant. "The Korean culture is very similar to Asian grace, warmth and care, so in terms of service aspect, they have a lot to offer.”
She added that South Korea will continue to be a source the hotel would look towards to alleviate the current manpower crunch faced by Singapore's hospitality industry.
