Korea urged to hire more foreign car mechanics

Korea should attract more foreign car mechanics by deregulating relevant visa rules, in the face of a chronic labor shortage amid the job’s falling popularity among younger Koreans, experts and industry officials said Wednesday.

They say young people display a growing tendency of leaving the vehicle maintenance industry due to a negative social sentiment toward the profession, calling on the government to take more administrative steps to increase the number of foreign mechanics.

“It appears realistically very tough to change the general perception on the job here and abruptly absorb young people into the industry,” said Lee Ho-geun, an automotive engineering professor at Daedeok University.

The government is urged to be more open to attracting foreign mechanics by drastically revamping visa rules, as is shown in the case of Japan, according to him.

“If skilled foreign workers pass a qualification test on car maintenance in Japan, they do not have any limits on the period of stay there,” he said. “If they stay there for more than a decade, they also gain the right to permanent residence, which is not the case in Korea,” he said.

Kim Pil-soo, an automotive technology professor at Daelim University College, also stressed the importance of building a more solid car maintenance system nationwide.

“Korea’s technological prowess in future mobility is already at a world-class level, but the status quo in the maintenance sector still leaves much to be desired,” Kim said.

He also urged the government to train maintenance workers more systemically amid the rise of hybrid and electric vehicles (EV).

“Even if the market for eco-friendly vehicles is on track to grow rapidly here and abroad, there is only a limited maintenance workforce for the vehicles, which is a serious problem,” he said. “On top of that, less and less people are willing to work in the sectors, even if demand for the vehicles is widely expected to rise further over the next few years.”

The possible influx of foreign skilled workers can resolve the status quo, as most of his students show no interest in working even for the world’s renowned carmakers — such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Industry officials also voiced similar concerns, saying most on-site maintenance workers are in their 40s and over.

“Cars and their maintenance are inseparable,” an official from a local carmaker said. “Vehicles require maintenance from time to time, and the falling appetite for mechanics may end up causing customers more trouble in the future. The government should come up with a set of plans to stop the outflow of the workforce from the industry.”